UC-NRLF 


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I       I 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 

MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


[mSONAL  IBlINISCENCES 


MEN  AND  THINGS 
ON  LONG  ISLAND 


^  DANIEL  M.TREDWELL 


CHARLES    A.  DITMAS 

BROOKLYN  NEW  YORK 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES 


OF 


MEN  AND  THINGS 

ON  LONG  ISLAND 


PART  ONE 


BY  DANIEL  M.  TREDWELL 

Author  of  "A  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,"  "Monograph  on 
Pri'vately  Illustrated  Books,  A  Plea  for  Bibliomania,"  Etc.,  Etc. 


Charles  Andrew  Ditmas 

PUBLISHER 
350  FULTON  STREET,  BROOKLYN,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

1912 


Coyprighted  1912 

By  Daniel  M.  Tredwell 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


First  edition  of  five  hundred  copies. 

No — 


(Xa^v^Q-iO;!^ 


CkyQy 


F    12.1 

L«Ti 


CHAPTERS  CONTENTS  page 

I.     Prefatory— 1838    13 

II.  Fourth  of  July,  1838.  Visit  to  Judge  Riker  of  New  York. 
Phenomena  of  Falling  Stars,  August  1,  1838.  Timber 
and  Fuel   23 

III.  Brick.     Neighboring  Towns.    School  at  Hempstead.    The 

Tinder  Box 32 

IV.  Historic  White   Oak   Tree.      Capture   of   the    Schooner, 

I'Armistad.      Indian    Shell    Heaps.      Indians    of   Long 
Island    45 

V.     The  Indians  of  Long  Island 58 

VI.     The  Geology  of  Long  Island.     Sheep  Parting.     Ancient 

Laws  in  Regard  to  Sheep  Herding 81 

VII.     Natural  History  of  Long  Island.     Professor  J.  P.  Giraud, 

Jr.    Long  Island  Ichthyology 94 

VIII.  The  Family  Picnic.  The  Broom  Factory.  Mr.  Terry's 
Invention.  Testimonial  to  Captain  Raynor  Rock  Smith. 
The  Famous  Horse  Race 110 

IX.     Crows.    The  Millerite  Camp  Meeting 125 

X.     The  Customs  of  the  Marshing  Season 135 

XI.  Saturday  Night  at  Milburn  Corners.  The  Trip  to  Sag 
Harbor.  Sag  Harbor,  July  26,  1843.  Southampton. 
The  Old  Sayre  House.     Modern  Sag  Harbor 150 

XII.  The  Plover.  The  Hon.  Samuel  Latham  Mitchill,  M.D., 
LL.D.  The  Long  Island  Railroad.  Reduced  Postage 
Rates     163 


ivi360416 


ILLUSTRATIONS  page 

Portrait,  Daniel  M.  Tredwell Frontispiece 

Map  of  Long  Island  23 

Residence  of  Elias  Hicks 33 

Seaman  Homestead,  Westbury,  L.  1 34 

The  Old  District  School,  Hempstead,  L.  1 37 

Tinder  Box,  Flint  and  Steel 43 

The  John  Howard  Payne  Cottage  at  East  Hampton,  L.  1 158 

Old  Sayre  Homestead  at  Southampton,  Said  To  Have  Been  Built 
in  1648  160 

Portrait,  Hon.  Samuel  Latham  Mitchill,  M.D.,  LL.D 166 

The  Old  Sammis  Hotel  at  Hempstead,  L.  1 167 


CHAPTER  I. 

Prefatory — 1838. 

HIS  work  is  in  no  sense  intended  as  a  consecutive 
History  of  Long  Island.  These  relations  attach 
rather  to  the  individual  than  to  the  locality,  and 
are  simply  a  collection  of  personal  experiences  of 
the  author,  with  an  account  of  the  customs  and 
traditions  which  have  passed  out  of  use  and  out  of  general 
recollection,  and  are  related  here  precisely  in  the  sequence  in 
which  they  transpired,  or  as  they  were  revealed  to  the  author, 
and  which  may  or  may  not  have  historical  value. 

As  stated  further  on  and  more  fully,  the  events  are  se- 
lected from  a  personal  diary  kept  in  chronological  order  and 
extending  over  a  period  of  nearly  half  a  century,  with  com- 
ments and  elaborations  upon  such  events  made,  in  some  in- 
stances, many  years  later,  as  remembered  by  the  author,  and 
having  some  pertinent  relations  to  the  locality,  with  but  little 
relation,  maybe,  to  each  other,  and  which  in  their  detail  sel- 
dom rise  to  the  dignity  of  history. 

The  first  English  settlement  within  the  bounds  of  Queens 
County  was  at  Hempstead,  in  1640.  The  English  settlers  in 
the  towns  of  Queens  County  acknowledged  Dutch  supremacy. 
The  first  substantial  movement  toward  immigration  was  No- 
vember 14,  1644,  when  the  grant  of  a  patent  was  made  to 
some  Stamford  colonists.  This  grant  extended  from  Long 
Island  Sound  on  the  North  to  the  South  Sea  (Atlantic  Ocean), 
accompanied  by  the  condition  that  one  hundred  families  should 
be  settled  thereon  within  five  years.  From  this  period,  many 
English  settlers  came  from  Connecticut.  Some  came  from  the 
East  end  of  Long  Island,  a  large  number  of  whom,  the  better 
conditioned  styling  themselves  planters,  settled  on  the  common 
lands  of  the  interior,  taking  up  large  areas;  the  poorer  classes 

13 


settled  on  the  necks  near  the  bay.  The  necks  were  fertile  tracts 
of  land  covered  with  forests,  in  many  instances,  to  the  edge  of 
the  South  Bay.  They  were  hives  of  population  and  sent  out 
annually  hundreds  of  men  of  muscle  to  man  our  merchant  ships 
and  Navy.  The  struggle  for  life  was  more  favored  on  the 
necks  than  the  inside  lands;  the  settler  had  the  never  failing 
supply  from  the  waters  of  the  bay  while  his  lands  were  being 
cleared  and  made  available  for  agriculture. 

We  grew  up  amid  the  familiar  names  of  Seaman,  Hew- 
lett, Denton,  Mott,  Carman,  Bedell,  Coe,  Snedeker,  Searing, 
Jackson,  Alison,  Cornwell,  Raynor,  Hicks,  Smith,  Weeks, 
Pettit,  Rushmore,  Eldert,  Langdon,  Wright,  Remsen,  Town- 
send,  Duryea,  Baldwin,  Johnson,  Gildersleeve,  Combes,  Titus, 
Hendrickson.  These  were  all  familiar  names  to  us  when  a 
boy.  They  are  now  represented  in  every  calling  and  profes- 
sion in  the  Union. 

We  are  not  limited  to  any  special  territory  in  these  notes, 
but  generally  our  range  will  be  the  South  Side  of  Long  Island, 
from  Rockaway  to  East  Hampton,  and  the  Plain  Edge  on  the 
North,  including  the  territory  under  the  Kleft  purchase. 

In  retrospecting  the  happy  period  immediately  preceding 
and  during  the  early  stages  of  this  Journal,  the  habits  of  the 
people  of  our  native  place  were  simple  beyond  modern  concep- 
tions of  simplicity.  Although  being  but  twenty-two  miles  from 
the  great  and  fashionable  metropolis.  New  York,  then  con- 
taining a  population  of  less  than  two  hundred  thousand,  it  re- 
flected none  of  its  gay  life  or  trappings  upon  our  immediate 
community.  Communication  was  had  with  New  York  every 
alternate  day  by  stage,  going  one  day  and  returning  the  next. 
There  was  also  communication  by  packet.  Fifteen  or  twenty 
of  these  staunch  sailing  vessels,  furnished  with  accommodations 
for  passengers.  In  limited  numbers,  were  constantly  plying  be- 
tween our  port  (Hempstead)  and  New  York,  Albany,  New- 
Brunswick,  Newark  and  Brooklyn.  A  large  portion  of  farm 
produce   reached  the  New  York  market  by  water,   and  all 

14 


bulky  goods  and  building  material  were  transported  in  like 
manner. 

The  difficulty  of  communication  and  of  getting  about 
from  place  to  place  kept  people  Isolated,  undisturbed  by  con- 
tact and  antagonisms  from  without  and  uninformed  of  one 
another.  They  grew  apart,  awry  and  intellectually  splay- 
footed. Newspapers,  according  to  the  modern  conception  of 
newspapers,  were  unknown. 

The  distinction  of  classes  was  much  less  marked  than  at 
present.  Domestic  service  was  a  friendly  and  intimate  rela- 
tion of  equals.  The  soil  smiled  with  plenty,  the  bays  swarmed 
with  fish  and  the  coverts  with  game.  But  all  this  old  civiliza- 
tion so  dear  to  us  has  been  most  iniquitously  supplanted  by  the 
tyrannous  bustle  of  the  up-to-date  man.  Sixty-eight  trains  pass 
and  repass  daily  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  old  home- 
stead where  we  were  born,  and  a  journey  in  these  early  days 
to  the  City  of  New  York,  which  consumed  two  days,  is  now 
performed  in  a  less  number  of  hours.  The  above  are  but  few 
of  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  and  about  the  old 
homestead  during  a  period  covered  by  these  notes. 

The  simplicity  and  economy  of  the  household  in  those 
days  were  of  the  most  vigorous  character.  Breakfast  was  us- 
ually at  six  in  the  morning,  always  by  candle  light  in  winter, 
dinner  at  twelve,  and  supper  at  six.  Evening  visiting  was  a 
common  social  entertainment  during  the  winter  months,  quilt- 
ing parties  and  gatherings  at  which  hickory  nuts,  apples,  new- 
cider,  crullers  and  doughnuts  were  among  the  refreshments, 
and  in  some  more  pretentious  gatherings  dancing  was  not  un- 
common. But  by  far  the  most  popular  were  the  evening  tea 
parties,  when  both  old  and  young  could  participate. 

The  clothing  worn  in  winter  was  made  from  the  wool 
raised  on  the  farm.  These  garments  were  emphatically  the 
product  of  the  farm,  from  the  raw  material  to  the  made-up 
garments.  The  surplusage  of  the  wool  or  cloth  was  sold, 
stockings  were  made  from  the  same  material.  Of  all  the 
phases  of  the  wool  industry,  from  the  raw  material  to  its  con- 
is 


summation,  none  were  more  fascinating  than  the  spinning  into 
yarn  the  wool  rolls.  We  have  watched  the  work  for  hours, 
when  a  child,  of  our  grandmother,  her  comeliness  and  grace, 
"beyond  the  reach  of  art,"  as  she  moved  up  and  down,  back 
and  forth,  erect  and  dignified,  beside  the  big  wheel,  which  she 
kept  whirling  with  one  hand  and  held  the  wool  roll  in  the 
other,  and  watched  the  spindle  take  up  the  yarn;  these  things 
spell-bound  us,  and  eighty  years  have  not  effaced  them  from 
our  memory.  It  transcends  all  the  skill  of  the  most  accom- 
plished professor  in  the  art  of  gracefulness,  and  all  perfectly 
natural.    She  was  our  Ariadne. 

The  flax  from  which  summer  clothing  was  made 
was  also  raised  on  the  farm.  It  was  pulled,  the 
woody  part  rotted,  crackled,  hatcheled,  spun,  woven  and  made 
into  garments  on  the  premises.  These  methods  were  true  of 
nearly  all  the  clothing  worn,  bed  sheets  and  table  linen  were 
made  of  the  same  material.  The  leather  for  shoes  was  made 
from  the  hide  of  the  cattle  slain  in  the  fall  for  winter  supply 
of  food  for  the  household.  It  was  tanned  at  the  village  tan- 
nery and  made  into  shoes  by  an  itinerant  shoemaker  who  lived 
with  the  family  while  engaged  on  the  work.  And  hence  ( from 
the  animals  killed  for  food)  came  the  candles  for  the  winter 
supply  of  light  manufactured  by  a  very  simple  process  and 
called  dips. 

There  were  many  products  of  the  farm  which  brought  in 
a  small  revenue.  All  kinds  of  truck  were  raised  for  home 
consumption,  the  surplusage  sold.  The  principal  cereals  raised 
for  market  were  Oats  and  Corn  for  which  there  was  always  a 
demand  at  the  stores,  where  they  were  taken  in  payment  for 
goods.  Cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  were  fatted  and  sold  to  herds- 
men who  purchased  for  cash,  on  the  hoof,  and  drove  them  to 
New  York  for  slaughter. 

In  our  homestead  the  faithful  old  Tinder  Box  was  the 
Lares  and  Penates  as  it  was  of  every  household  on  Long  Is- 
land without  which  civilization  could  not  have  been  maintained. 
(An  account  of  the  Tinder  Box  Is  given  in  this  work.) 


16 


Coal  (mineral)  was  unknown  to  the  farmers  as  fuel. 
Warmth  was  obtained  in  winter  in  our  homes  from  a  wood 
fire  maintained  in  a  corner  fireplace,  four  and  a  half  feet  high 
and  ten  feet  wide,  in  front  of  which,  or  into  which  the  family 
usually  sat,  and  the  greater  the  heat  generated  in  front  the 
more  cold  there  was  in  the  rear.  To  get  an  all  round  uniform 
warmth  from  the  old  fashioned  fireplace  was  a  thing  unknown 
and  impossible.  When  the  Franklin  was  Installed,  which  was 
simply  a  portable  iron  fireplace  set  out  in  the  room,  great  com- 
fort was  introduced  Into  the  household  and  it  was  also  a  great 
saving  of  fuel.  On  its  introduction  the  old  fireplace  went  out 
of  commission,  was  boarded  up  and  became  a  convenient  stor- 
age for  wood  and  a  deposit  of  filth  from  a  colony  of  Chimney 
Swallows.  The  great  merit  in  the  Franklin  was  Its  substitu- 
tion of  an  iron  portable  fireplace  for  the  stationary  one  of 
stone,  tile,  or  brick,  the  former  of  which  generated  heat  all 
around. 

Improvement  after  improvement  followed  in  the  Frank- 
.lin  until  perfection  was  nearly  attained.  No  special  credit  is 
due  to  any  one  individual,  unless  It  be  to  Count  Rumford  who 
made  a  cook  stove  with  an  oven,  then  for  the  first  time  was 
learned  how  to  bake  and  cook  and  be  protected  from  the  di- 
rect heat  of  the  fire,  which  had  formerly  been  done  In  front  of 
the  blazing  fire  of  the  hearth,  or  in  a  brick  oven  detached  from 
the  house. 

From  these  early  methods  of  our  ancestors,  from  the  old 
corner  fireplace  to  the  modern  steam  heat,  from  the  old  tallow 
candle  to  electricity,  from  the  wheat  shock  In  the  field  to  a  bag 
of  Hecker's  prepared  flour  were  long  and  tedious  processes  of 
evolution.  Machinery  has  also  solved  its  great  problem  from 
the  sickle  and  sythe  to  the  reaping  machine  and  from  the  old 
flail,  which  resounded  on  the  barn  floor  all  winter  long,  in 
separating  the  seed  from  the  sheaf,  Is  now  accomplished  In 
hours  by  the  threshing  machine  where  months  were  formerly 
involved.  The  next  stage  of  development  was  from  the  house 
to  the  factory. 

17 


Wages  were  ridiculously  low  compared  with  modern 
times.  Carpenters,  painters  and  masons  received  six  shillings 
per  day  and  found,  farm  hands,  laborers,  ten  dollars  per 
month  In  winter  and  fifteen  dollars  in  summer  and  board.  A 
day's  work  was  from  sun  to  sun.  Plain  board  at  a  farm  house 
could  be  obtained  at  six  shillings  per  week;  women  help  in  the 
house,  six  shillings  per  week. 

There  are  some  customs  which  seem  deficient  In  that  qual- 
ity we  call  common  sense,  or  precaution.  That  of  conducting 
elections  at  the  period  of  the  opening  of  the  following  Journal 
was  one.  At  the  Spring  meeting  of  the  freeholders,  or  Spring 
elections,  at  the  Village  of  Hempstead,  most  of  the  important 
laws  were  adopted  by  viva-voce  vote,  ayes  and  nayes,  or  the  up- 
lifting of  hands;  boundaries  of  territory  and  leases  of  land 
were  determined  and  pay  of  officers  was  fixed  In  this  manner, 
every  voter  having  two  hands  fraud  might  have  affected  in  the 
count.  Nor  less  primitive  were  the  general  elections  for 
county,  state  and  national  officers,  primaries  were  then  un- 
known. These  elections  were  held  three  consecutive  days  at 
convenient  localities  in  the  town  for  voters.  Think  of  it — on 
the  close  of  the  polls  of  the  first  day's  ballot  at  Merrick  a  mo- 
tion was  made  by  one  of  the  inspectors,  there  being  three, 
"That  Smith  Abrams  (an  inspector)  shall  be  made  the  cus- 
todian of  the  ballot  boxes  and  their  contents  until  the  next 
meeting  of  this  board  at  sun-rise  to-morrow  at  the  inn  of 
Thomas  Baldwin  at  Hicks  Neck."  Whereupon  the  slots  of  the 
ballot  boxes  were  sealed  by  pasting  a  paper  over  the  slot,  and 
placed  in  the  buggy  of  Smith  Abrams  to  be  taken  to  his  home, 
faithfully  guarded  and  delivered  for  the  next  day's  polling. 
Developments  since  that  period  have  made  it  necessary  to  be 
more  circumspect  in  the  disposition  of  ballot  boxes.  A  class 
of  patriots  has  developed  out  of  the  party  element  known  by 
the  patronymic  name  of  ^'Ballot  Box  Stuffers." 

Newspapers  as  such  were  luxuries  enjoyed  by  few.  A 
Village  paper,  The  Hempstead  Inquirer,  first  published  May 
6,  1830,  and  called  The  Long  Island  Telegraph  and  Friend 


18 


of  Education;  the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  Hemp- 
stead Enquirer,  November  11,  1831,  and  so  continues  to-day. 
Also  The  Long  Island  Farmer  published  at  Jamaica.  These 
papers,  both  weeklies,  were  left  by  the  stage  driver  at  our  house 
once  a  week  and  were  our  weekly  supply  of  literature  and  in- 
formation from  the  outside  world. 

Another  prized  souvenir  of  household  literature  was  the 
Farmer's  Almanac,  a  file  of  which  hung  seasoning  in  the  chim- 
ney corner.  It  was  consulted  concerning  the  rising  and  setting 
of  the  Sun  and  Moon  and  their  various  phases,  a  record  of  the 
tides,  changes  In  the  weather;  It  also  contained  a  chronology  of 
historical  events  from  the  Garden  of  Eden  to  the  present  time. 
Besides  all  the  above  it  contained  a  fund  of  anecdote,  valuable 
medical  receipts,  and  was  Invaluable  as  a  guide  to  plain  family 
cooking,  and  much  valuable  statistics,  and  its  prognostications 
on  the  weather  met  with  no  more  ridicule  than  the  present 
Weather  Bureau  at  Washington. 

One  of  our  earliest  literary  experiences  was  with  an  Old 
Farm  Diary  in  manuscript  which  had  been  about  our  house 
from  our  earliest  recollection.  It  was  an  imperfect  document 
of  about  sixty  large  foolscap  pages,  the  beginning  and  ending 
pages  were  missing,  the  corners  of  the  remaining  pages  were 
worn  off  from  use,  or  disuse,  the  ink  had  faded  to  a  dingy 
brown,  but  the  penmanship  was  a  masterpiece  of  excellence. 
Judging  from  the  date  entries  on  the  surviving  pages  It  prob- 
ably covered  a  period  from  1720  to  1744  and  as  far  as  our 
memory  goes  contained  matter  relating  principally  t}o  the 
farm  productions  and  their  disposition,  accounts  of  journeys 
In  such  behalf,  with  many  useful  hints  of  how  to  run  a  planta- 
tion and  make  it  pay.  It  also  contained  accounts  of  jour- 
neys made  to  Sag  Harbor  and  the  Hamptons  on  horseback. 
These  trips  constituted  a  great  traveler  In  our  mind  at  the  time 
and  we  read  them  over  and  over  with  the  utmost  delight.  No 
value  was  set  upon  this  old  manuscript  at  our  house,  but  from 
our  earliest  recollection  we  were  pleased  to  hear  It  read  by  my 
sister  and  we  treasured  up  much  of  Its  contents.     It  was  evl- 

19 


dently  written  by  one  of  our  ancestors  who  had  occupied  the 
old  homestead  two  or  three  generations  before  us.  The  names 
of  slaves  of  whom  my  father  had  heard  were  mentioned  in  it, 
canvassing  some  of  their  good  or  bad  qualities.  The  old  slave 
quarters  at  our  homestead  survived  to  our  day,  and  were  lo- 
cated about  four  hundred  feet  in  the  rear  of  our  dwelling.  We 
remember  them  many  years  after  they  had  ceased  to  be  used 
as  quarters  for  negroes,  and  when  they  were  used  as  a  shelter 
and  stable  for  horses  and  cows.  The  old  building  had  a  thatch 
roof  and  the  clapboards  were  of  oak.  It  was  burned  in  1834. 
Slaves  were  manumitted  in  this  state  in  1827  by  an  amended 
act  of  1811  which  required  that  those  of  a  certain  age  should 
be  provided  for  during  life  with  a  home  on  the  estate.  We 
distinctly  remember  two  of  them  who  left  home  every  spring, 
tramped  all  summer  and  invariably  came  home  in  winter  to 
board.  Slaves  were  never  a  profitable  investment  on  Long 
Island.  They  were  an  aristocratic  equipment  to  a  plantation, 
but  the  cost  of  feeding  and  clothing  more  than  offset  their 
labor.  One  Long  Island  farmer  said  that,  *'the  hogs  had  eaten 
all  his  corn  and  his  slaves  had  eaten  his  hogs  and  all  he  had 
was  niggers.^'  In  after  years  when  we  had  become  old  enough 
to  suspect  that  this  old  diary  might  contain  many  valuable 
facts  of  local  and  family  history  we  sought  for  it  about  the 
old  homestead,  but  it  had  disappeared,  whence  no  one  knew. 
However,  the  old  manuscript,  by  which  it  will  be  known  in 
these  Reminiscences  had  made  a  lasting  impression  on  our 
mind  and  our  first  unfledged  literary  efforts  were  made  in  imi- 
tation of  it,  and  we  made  a  resolution  early  in  life  to  write  a 
diary  of  the  events  of  our  life.  In  fulfillment  of  that  resolu- 
tion we  had  scarcely  learned  to  write  when  we  attempted  to 
keep  a  record  of  events.  Nothing  however  came  from  our 
earliest  random  method.  No  persistent  efforts  were  made  to- 
ward a  regular  journal  until  1838.  And  this  Journal  com- 
menced in  1838,  was  continued  uninterruptedly  for  nearly  fifty 
years. 

Looking  over  this  Journal  and  loose  notes  in  1884,  we 

20 


determined  to  destroy  them  in  consequence  of  some  unwise 
things  in  them,  but  on  second  thought  it  occurred  to  us  that  the 
time  spent  in  a  revision  of  them  and  a  chronological  arrange- 
ment would  be  time  not  wholly  wasted  in  the  estimation  of 
many  of  our  surviving  relatives.  We  consequently  undertook 
the  task  the  result  of  which  will  be  placed  before  the  reader 
in  these  gossippy  notes,  preserving  only  such  material  having 
directly  or  indirectly  some  literary,  scientific  or  historical  sig- 
nificance to  the  subject  matter  indicated  by  the  title  hereto. 
We  have  felt  a  deep  solicitude  in  the  old  Journal,  and  having  a 
delicacy  in  preserving  it  in  consequence  of  the  above  referred 
to  entries  and  personal  references  never  intended  for  other 
eyes  than  our  own,  and  hope  that  its  revision  in  its  present 
form  may  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  readers  of  this  Vol- 
ume. 

If  the  reader,  born  and  reared  amid  all  the  conveniences 
and  luxuries  of  modern  life  can  conceive  with  any  assurance 
the  period  when  John  Quincy  Adams  was  President,  or  a  state 
of  society  before  anthracite  coal — before  kindling  wood — ^be- 
fore gas — before  friction  matches — when  there  was  no  canned 
fruit — no  sewing  machines — no  typewriters — no  telegraph — 
no  expresses — no  mail — no  railroads — when  eggs  were  fifteen 
for  a  shilling — chewing  tobacco  three  pence  a  paper  and  whis- 
key three  pence  a  glass,  when  there  were  no  policemen — no 
tramps — no  cigarettes — an  age  before  the  innovation  of  blot- 
ting paper  or  steel  pens,  and  when  everybody  was  happy  and 
content,  he  may  form  a  pretty  fair  conception  of  the  surround- 
ings under  which  the  boy  chronicler  of  these  notes  was  born. 

The  idea  of  destroying  these  notes  was  the  effect  of  read- 
ing a  review  of  the  Greville  Memoirs  in  the  Quarterly  Review, 
London,  of  1844.  "Don't  keep  a  Journal,"  says  the  Review, 
and  the  reasons  given  were  convincing  to  us. 

The  Journal  originally  consisted  of  over  one  thousand 
foolscap  pages  which  after  a  revision  and  emendation  are  now 
first  published.  No  effort  has  been  made  to  evade  personal  or 
family  references  in  the  matters  quoted  from  the  Journal. 

21 


The  quotations  are  verbatim  reproduction,  (except  in  the  oc- 
casional interpolation  of  a  more  expressive  word  or  sentence) 
and  are  designated  in  this  reproduction  by  the  10  point  type  of 
the  printed  text  of  this  volume;  the  comments  are  in  11  point 
type. 


22 


CHAPTER  II. 

Fourth    of   July,  1838. — Visit    to   Judge    Richard   Riker   of    New   York. — 
Phenomena  of  Falling  Stars,  August  1,  1838. — Timber  and  Fuel. 

Thursday,  July  5,   1838. 

ESTERDAY  morning,  early,  my  father  took  a  team  and 
the  big  wagon  and  carried  a  load  of  men  and  boys,  prin- 
cipally boys,  to  Jamaica  as  a  Fourth  of  July  jubilee  and 
to  hear  an  oration  by  Mr.  Vanderhoff. 

The  ride  to  Jamaica  was  enjoyed  by  everyone.  Af- 
ter the  ceremonies  were  over  we  returned  by  way  of 
Hempstead,  stopping  at  the  Plains  just  northwest  from  Hempstead  to 
see  an  encampment  of  New  York  State  Militia  there  for  recreation 
and  practice.    They  had  been  there  for  several  days. 

This  was  an  extraordinary  spectacle  to  us.  We  had  never  seen  the 
like  before.  It  seemed  like  real  war,  and  we  started  out  on  a  crusade 
of  investigation;  but  to  obtain  the  true  inwardness  of  a  military  camp 
in  commission  is  likely  to  be  attended  with  difficulties,  as  the  sequel  will 
show.  By  persistence,  however,  we  did  find  out  that  the  encampment 
was  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment,  of  Brooklyn,  under  Colonel  Abel 
Smith,  who  had  just  been  commissioned,  and  was  encamped  on  the 
plains  for  target  and  other  tactical  practice,  for  recreation,  and  to  create 
an  individual  social  solidity  in  the  personnel  of  the  regiment.  The 
Thirteenth  was  also  entertaining  some  companies  of  New  York  State 
Militia  from  the  upper  part  of  the  state,  who  were  on  a  visit  to  the 
Thirteenth  and  were  occupying  a  camp  adjoining. 

The  two  camps  made  a  great  show,  with  a  very  warlike  aspect. 
We  saw  but  little  of  the  manoeuvering  of  the  troops,  but  we  had  some 
military  experience  which  was  quite  salutary.  While  we  were  trying 
to  learn  the  names  of  the  Brooklyn  companies  and  other  things,  we  had 
proceeded  so  far  as  to  ascertain  that  one  company  was  the  ^'Brooklyn 
Light  Guards"  and  another  the  "City  Guards."  At  this  point  we  found 
ourselves  suddenly  surrounded  by  half  a  dozen  fierce  looking  fighting 
men,  to  whom  we  surrendered,  and  were  taken  in  charge  by  two  fellows 
in  "soger  close"  and  guns,  who  invited  us  to  take  a  walk  with  them, 
and  we  were  marched  out  of  the  camp. 

As  soon  as  recognized  by  our  friends  thus  flanked  by  two  soldiers, 
they  gave  cheer  after  cheer,  all  of  which  did  not  seem  very  funny  to  us. 
However,  this  was  the  grand  accentuated  event  of  the  day.  Father 
thought  we  had  captured  the  militiamen,  but  when  he  learned  the  true 
state  of  affairs,  declared  that  it  was  only  through  an  act  of  the  greatest 
clemency,  under  the  military  code,  that  we  had  not  been  shot. 

23 


Monday,  July  16,  1838. 

My  Uncle  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of  New  York  City,  with  whom  we 
were  spending  a  few  days  of  our  vacation,  had  an  engagement  last 
evening  at  the  house  of  Hon.  Richard  Riker,  Recorder  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  and  invited  us  to  accompany  him.  We  gladly  accepted  the 
invitation.  Judge  Riker  resides  on  Fulton  Street,  near  Nassau;  we  do 
riot  remember  the  number.  We  were  introduced  to  the  Judge.  He  is 
very  simple-mannered,  is  regarded  as  a  clear-headed  man  and  a 
dignified,  honest  magistrate.  He  had  held  the  office  of  Recorder  with 
honor  a  great  many  years,  and  he  is  immensely  popular  and  has  an  un- 
sullied official  reputation.  Now,  while  no  disrespect  apparently  is  in- 
tended to  Judge  Riker,  the  strange  anomaly  appears  in  the  free  and 
easy  use  of  his  name.  He  is  always  described  as  "Dickey  Riker."  Why 
this  minimized  slang,  cant,  or  nickname  should  be  so  generally,  or  at 
all,  applied  to  Judge  Riker  is  to  us  an  unsolved  riddle.  It  is  a  travesty 
on  reputation. 

Recorder  Riker  is  not  captious  or  quarrelsome,  and  he  is  of  great 
flexibility  of  manner,  not  disposed  to  acts  which  might  impugn  his  good 
name  or  shock  the  most  delicate  public  sensibility;  and  yet  he  bears  scars 
inflicted  in  a  most  disreputable  meeting  with  one  Robert  Swartwont  at 
Hoboken.  Who  the  aggressor  was  in  this  affair  of  honor  we  have  never 
learned,  but  we  are  far  from  believing  that  Judge  Riker  provoked  such 
a  crisis. 

The  interview  with  my  uncle  w^as  held  in  an  adjoining  room,  which, 
being  concluded,  we  left.  Long  shall  we  remember  the  interview  with 
the  courteous  Magistrate  "Dickey  Riker." 

Thursday,  August  2,  1838. 

Last  evening  our  community  was  startled  by  a  display  which,  al- 
though by  no  means  a  unique  occurrence,  was  nevertheless  a  noteworthy 
spectacle.  It  was  a  phenomenon  of  falling  stars,  meteors.  They  were 
not  in  great  profusion,  but  in  sufficient  numbers  to  excite  the  wonder  of 
those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  witnessed  them. 

But  the  interest  of  our  immediate  neighborhood  was  greater  than 
witnessing  the  mere  descent  of  these  glowing  bodies  through  our  atmo- 
sphere. One  of  them  reached  the  earth  and  embodied  itself  in  the 
meadow  near  the  residence  of  Tredwell  Smith,  about  half  a  mile  from 
our  house.  Those  who  saw  the  descent  say  it  came  with  a  flash  resem- 
bling a  vivid  flash  of  lightning  and  left  a  streak  of  light  through  the  air. 

Hearing  of  this,  and  being  curious  to  see  the  celestial  visitor,  we, 
in  company  with  Timothy  Tredwell,  equally  curious,  visited  the  meadow 
this  morning,  with  the  intention  of  capturing  the  stranger;  but  the 
meteor  had  already  been  removed.  We  saw  the  fresh-dug  hole  from 
which  it  had  been  taken  and  were  told  that  the  stone  was  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Epenetus  Smith,  who  had  removed  it.  Enquiries  were  then 
made  of  Epenetus  Smith.  He  said  that  he  had  the  stone  locked  up  in 
his  wagon  house  and  that  it  was  not  a  stone,  but  iron;  that  it  was  a 

24 


great  curiosity  and  he  expected  to  get  a  big  price  for  it;  but  he  did  not 
oifer  to  show  it  to  us. 

We  never  saw  that  stone,  nor  do  we  know  postively  that 
Epenetus  Smith  ever  had  it.  We  have  his  testimony  that  he 
had  it;  it  was  a  matter  of  public  notoriety  that  he  had  it,  and, 
further,  we  have  the  strong  circumstantial  evidence  of  the 
fresh-dug  hole  on  the  day  that  we  saw  it.  And  we  have  the 
testimony  of  the  farm  hand  who  helped  Epenetus  Smith  re- 
move it.  And  we  also  have  the  word  of  the  highly  respectable 
old  resident  of  Merrick,  Elijah  Smith,  surveyor  and  school- 
master, that  it  was  on  exhibition  two  successive  years  at  the 
agricultural  show  for  Queens  County.  Truth  is  sometimes 
wonderfully  evasive. 

The  visitations  of  meteoric  storms  are  of  so  rare  an  oc- 
currence that  localities  have  become  famous  in  consequence  of 
having  been  fortuitously  the  scene  of  one  of  these  visitations. 
In  Great  Britain,  where  a  record  has  been  kept,  it  gives  ac- 
counts of  only  sixteen  in  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  which 
have  reached  the  earth  In  good  condition;  they  are  burned  up 
In  their  descent. 

Apropos  of  aerolites,  meteoric  showers,  we  remember  distinctly  the 
grandest  of  the  kind  said  to  have  taken  place  within  the  memory  of 
man.  It  was  on  the  night  of  November  13,  1833.  We  were  but  a  child 
at  the  time.  A  little  flurry  of  snow  had  fallen  during  the  day,  giving 
a  conspicuous  whiteness  to  the  landscape.  The  shower  came  on  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  and  continued  all  night,  an  unlntermitting 
cascade  of  fire,  during  which  period  hundreds  of  thousands  of  meteors 
must  have  fallen.  They  came  from  all  parts  of  the  heavens,  and  their 
paths  crossed  each  other  at  all  angles.  How  many  reached  the  earth  we 
shall  never  know.  The  sky  was  brilliantly  tinted  in  reds  and  seemed 
in  a  blaze  from  horizon  to  horizon.  The  snow  was  red  from  reflection, 
and  the  atmosphere  appeared  thick  with  fire.  It  was  a  night  of  terror 
at  our  home,  none  but  the  female  members  of  our  family  being  at  home 
in  the  early  evening,  and  they  really  believed  that  the  end  of  the  world 
was  at  hand.  My  father  came  home  about  ten  o'clock.  He  rebuked 
us  for  our  fears  by  his  real,  or  affected,  indifference  in  the  impending 
collapse  of  all  terrestrial  things.  He  talked  as  familiarly  about  falling 
stars  as  if  he  were  one,  and  as  of  no  very  rare  occurrence  anyway;  he 
had  known  many  such  in  his  time,  and  that  no  harm  would  come  out  of 
it.     He  pretended  that  it  wasn't  much  of  a  shower  anyhow.     This  as- 

3  25 


surance  and  his  own  frigid  unconcern  had  the  effect  of  reassuring  the 
rest  of  the  thoroughly  frightened  household,  and  a  more  cheerful  spirit 
pervaded  until  bed  time.  The  above,  the  greatest  of  all  meteoric  shovi^ers 
of  which  there  is  any  record,  was  witnessed  from  our  home  at  Hemp- 
stead South  in  1833. 

The  record  of  this  phenomenon  in  the  Astronomical  De- 
partment at  Washington  shows  that  the  extent  of  territory  in 
which  it  was  observable  was  from  Canada  to  the  Northern 
boundary  of  South  America,  and  a  longitudinal  tract  three 
thousand  miles  in  width. 

From  the  earliest  periods  theories  were  entertained  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  meteors.  Diogenes  Laertius  thought 
they  came  from  the  sun.  Pliny  laughs  at  the  theory,  but  utter- 
ly fails  to  improve  upon  it.  La  Place  thought  that  they  came 
from  the  depths  of  space,  and  at  other  times  he  thought  they 
had  a  lunar  origin.  The  Greek  philosophers  had  four  hypoth- 
eses of  their  origin,  "telluric,"  raised  by  hurricanes,  a  solar 
origin,  or  an  origin  in  the  regions  of  space. 

There  is  a  curious  legend  of  the  Algonkins,  of  which  all 
the  Long  Island  Indians  were  sub-tribes.  This  legend,  which 
seems  to  have  some  pertinence  here  as  showing  that  they  were 
familiar  with  meteoric  phenomena  long  before  the  advent 
of  the  white  man  among  them. 

They  had  been  taught  to  never  complain  or  speak  ill  of 
the  elements.  The  severest  storms  of  wind,  snow,  frost  or 
hail  were  treated  with  the  greatest  respect.  They  would  en- 
dure great  heat  or  cold  without  complaining.  To  complain  of 
the  heat  or  glare  of  the  sun  would  subject  them  to  blindness. 
They  never  murmured  at  the  clouds  or  stormy  weather,  lest 
they  be  shut  up  in  caves  in  the  mountains  where  no  light  can 
enter.  The  moon  must  be  treated  with  the  same  consideration, 
for  those  who  said  aught  against  her  were  in  danger  of  death 
by  fiery  rocks  from  that  luminary. 

Dr.  Smith  says  that  meteors  are  mostly  iron  and  have 
come  from  some  place  where  there  was  but  little  or  no  oxygen. 
Now,  the  moon  has  no  atmosphere,  no  water  and  consequently 

26 


no  oxygen.  Many  of  these  meteors  are  almost  pure  iron,  as 
Epenetus  Smith  said  his  was.  Sir  Humphry  Davy  thinks  the 
combustion  is  caused  by  the  rapidity  of  descent,  that  they  be- 
come incandescent  and  explode  by  the  heat,  and  not  by  gases 
contained  in  them.  In  the  long  record  of  meteors  only  four 
persons  are  known  to  have  been  killed  by  their  fall. 

In  the  analysis  of  meteors  it  is  very  remarkable  that  no 
new  chemical  element  has  been  detected  in  any  yet  discovered. 
We  are  familiar  with  their  composition.  The  largest  meteor 
ever  known  to  have  fallen  to  the  earth  was  one  discovered  by 
Captain  John  Ross  near  Cape  York,  Greenland,  in  1818. 
This  meteor  was  by  Arctic  explorer  R.  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  N., 
brought  to  the  United  States  and  deposited  in  the  vestibule  of 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York,  where 
it  now  remains.  Its  circumference  is  about  eleven  feet,  its 
length  four  feet  three  inches,  and  about  two  and  a  half  feet 
thick,  its  weight  about  10,000  pounds,  and  it  is  ninety-two  per 
cent,  pure  iron. 

Since  the  above  the  Willamette  Meteor,  found  in  Wil- 
lamette Valley,  Oregon,  was  purchased  by  Mrs.  William  E. 
Dodge  for  $20,000  and  deposited  in  the  same  museum.  It 
is  ten  feet  three  inches  long,  seven  feet  wide  at  the  base  and 
four  feet  thick,  and  weighs  31,000  pounds.  It  is  ninety  per 
cent,  pure  iron. 

This  museum  now  contains  four  great  meteors.  The 
British  Museum  contains  several.  One  of  the  oldest  known, 
historically,  is  in  a  temple  at  Mecca,  Arabia.  Its  name  is  the 
"Right  Hand  God,"  and  it  was  worshipped  long  before  the 
time  of  Mahommed.  Another  which  was  the  subject  of  wor- 
ship was  set  up  In  the  temple  Cybele  at  Phrygia.  This  Is  sup- 
posed to  have  fallen  from  Jupiter.  It  was  through  the  de- 
cree of  this  oracle,  or  of  this  cult,  that  Hannibal  was  obliged 
to  turn  back  from  his  intended  investment  of  Rome.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  the  image  which  fell,  (The  Jupiter),  mentioned  in 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  was  a  meteor. 

27 


Wednesday,  August  8,  1838. 

John  A.  King,  of  Jamaica,  called  at  our  house  to-day  on  some  busi- 
ness with  my  father,  which  they  evidently  did  not  care  to  transact  in 
our  presence.  This  being  evident  to  us,  we  retired  without  being  re- 
quested, in  good  order. 

They  were  together  about  one  hour  and  a  half,  when  we  were 
called  in  to  witness  their  signatures  to  a  paper  writing,  which  we  did, 
and  Mr.  King  gave  us  four  shillings.  Whether  this  was  a  reward  for 
our  politeness  in  retiring  or  legal  fee  to  which  we  were  entitled  for  our 
services,  we  do  not  know,  nor  did  we  stop  to  enquire,  but  accepted  the 
compliment  with  thanks. 

Monday,  August  20,  1838, 

On  the  first  of  June  last  we  commenced  remodeling  our  house,  and 
since  that  time  we  have  been  enjoying  the  novel  experience  of  living  in 
the  barn  and  wagon  house,  which  have  been  temporarily  fitted  for  oc- 
cupancy, the  horses  having  been  dispossessed. 

The  younger  members  of  the  family  enjoyed  exceedingly  the  in- 
digent method  of  life.  Yesterday  part  of  the  family  moved  back  into 
the  house,  made  tenantable,  but  far  from  completed. 

The  carpenters  contracting  for  this  work,  which  was  to  be  done 
by  day's  work  and  to  be  completed  by  the  third  of  October,  were  Tred- 
well  Smith  and  Abram  Johnson.  Their  compensation  is  to  be  six  shill- 
ings per  day  and  board.  A  similar  agreement  was  made  with  the  painters 
and  masons.  All  the  hauling  of  lumber  and  brick  was  to  be  performed 
by  my  father. 

Some  wonderful  revelations  were  made  in  dismantling  the  old 
house,  which  had  been  standing  over  one  hundred  years.  The  laths 
holding  the  plaster  of  the  walls  and  ceilings  were  split  laths  made  by 
hand,  and  were  held  in  their  places  to  the  studs  by  wrought  nails,  also 
made  by  hand.  Every  timber  in  the  old  structure,  even  the  rafters,  was 
of  oak  and  had  been  taken  from  the  woods  and  squared  by  hand  w^ith 
an  axe,  and  were  as  sound  as  when  first  put  up.  The  shingles  on  the 
east  and  west  gables  and  the  rear  were  hand-made  and  an  attempt  had 
been  made  to  effect  the  ornamental  by  rounding  the  lower  ends  of  some 
of  them.  These  shingles  were  fastened  to  their  places  by  wrought  nails, 
hammered  out  by  a  blacksmith  one  at  a  time,  and  not  one  of  them  had 
been  driven  to  its  place  until  a  hole  had  been  drilled  for  it  with  a  gimlet. 
The  amount  of  labor  and  patience  required  to  shingle  a  house  of  this 
kind  in  this  manner  would  appall  any  modern  mechanic.  The  shingle 
gables  of  the  old  house  were  used  in  the  reconstruction.  At  the  time  the 
old  house  was  built,  and  down  to  the  time  of  reconstruction,  there  were 
no  ready-made  shingles.  They  were  all  made  by  hand  from  the  lumber 
cut  in  uniform  lengths;  there  were  no  tongued  and  grooved  boards  and 
planks;  the  planing- machine  had  not  yet  been  invented;  no  ready-made 
doors  or  window  sash,  no  ready-made  wainscoting,  no  trim,  no  mould- 

28 


ings;  all  these  things,  at  a  vast  amount  of  labor,  were  manufactured  or 
worked  out  by  hand  from  the  raw  material  by  the  mechanic.  And  a 
house  could  be  built  cheaper  then,  in  1838,  than  now,  and  better. 

Tuesday,  September  4,   1838. 

The  marshing  season  commenced  this  year  on  the  fourth  day  of 
September.  We  had  heretofore  regarded  marshing  as  a  picnic  season, 
but,  being  admonished  that  our  time  could  be  more  profitably  spent  at 
school,  and  being  conscious  of  the  fact  ourselves,  we  acquiesced  without 
crushing  effect  or  disappointment.  An  option,  however,  was  granted 
for  Saturday. 

P.  S. — Saturday  turned  out  to  be  a  very  stormy  day,  and  our 
picnic  a  total  failure. 

Saturday,  September  8,  1838. 

It  has  been  a  custom  for  many  years  for  owners  of  large  tracts  of 
woodland  to  sell  off  portions  in  the  fall  for  firewood  during  the  winter 
to  those  who  have  no  such  tracts  of  reserve  woodlands.  This  unique 
custom,  it  is  said,  is  the  outgrowth  of  an  earlier  one  in  which  the  wood 
was  given  away  to  anyone  who  would  remove  it  from  the  ground. 
This  was  at  a  period  when  cleared  lands  were  more  desirable  than 
woodlands,  the  wood  being  an  incumbrance.  Nearly  all  the  country 
was  covered  with  timber  then.  As  years  rolled  on  and  woodlands  de- 
creased, and  cleared  lands  and  population  increased,  the  timber  began 
to  have  a  commercial  value,  and  a  charge  was  made  for  the  wood  re- 
moved. This  custom  grew,  and  the  sale  of  standing  wood  for  fuel  be- 
came a  traffic  as  the  supply  decreased,  and  now  (1838),  to  prevent 
the  utter  denudation  of  forests  and  woodlands  laws  are  being  enacted 
for  their  preservation,  protection  being  necessary. 

Yesterday  we  attended  the  sale  by  vendue  of  wood  lots  of  Thomas 
Carman,  of  Raynortown.  This  woods  at  Coe's  Neck  had  been  already 
surveyed  and  staked  out  into  plots  and  numbered,  the  stakes  enclosing 
plots  of  standing  timber  of  different  values,  and  were  now  to  be  dis- 
posed of  to  the  highest  bidder. 

There  were  about  eighty  persons  present  in  the  woods  at  the  sale, 
some  buyers,  some  spectators,  and  some  choppers.  Those  who  intended 
to  buy  had,  generally,  made  their  selections  before  the  sale.  Purchasers 
had  different  objects  in  view  in  purchasing.  Those  who  wanted  fire- 
wood only  selected  plots  containing  the  most  hickory  and  oak;  some 
bought  plots  largely  represented  in  chestnut  for  splitting  into  rails  for 
fencing,  or  making  posts ;  boat  builders  selected  plots  that  would  cut  up 
the  most,  and  to  the  best  advantage,  timber  for  boat  building.  There 
were,  sometimes,  strongly  contested  bidding  on  extraordinarily  desirable 
plots.  Occasionally  an  old,  gnarled  oak  would  be  worth  more  than 
enough  to  the  purchaser  to  pay  for  the  whole  plot,  and  rails  to  the  far- 
mer were  always  an  important  item. 

29 


The  terms  of  the  sale,  as  announced,  were  ten  per  cent,  down,  and 
the  balance  before  an  axe  is  put  in  the  plot ;  all  trees  of  five  inches  diam- 
eter or  under  not  included  in  the  sale,  and  are  to  be  left  standing;  and 
all  timber  remaining  on  the  premises  after  the  first  day  of  March,  1839, 
shall  be  forfeited.  All  the  well-to-do  farmers  of  our  section  owned  a 
reservation  of  woodland,  which  they  held  for  an  emergency,  or  perchance, 
a  fuel  famine,  which  for  cause  sometimes  became  imminent.  It  is  con- 
sidered that  a  well  dispositioned  farm  should  have  at  least  twenty-five 
per  cent,  of  woodland  in  reserve,  and  so  farmers  generally  rely  upon 
these  fall  sales  and  lay  in  their  firewood  from  purchases  made  under 
them,  and  preserve  their  own  holdings  for  an  emergency. 

Wood  tracts  are  dwindling  away  on  Long  Island,  and  the  time 
when  they  will  fail  utterly  is  regarded  not  only  as  probable,  but  as 
absolutely  certain,  and  in  the  near  future;  the  end  is  already  in  sight. 
And  even  for  the  immediate  present  the  problem  of  firewood  for  those 
who  hold  no  reserve  of  woodland,  and  of  small  means,  is  regarded  one 
of  serious  import,  and  getting  worse  as  woods  grow  scarcer.  Whole 
forests  are  going  up  chimneys  annually. 

And  again,  the  fuel  question  is  one  of  the  most  foremost  of  all 
charities  in  the  country  districts.  With  the  poor,  who  cannot  provision 
themselves  for  a  long  and  tedious  winter,  that  of  fuel  was  not  of  less 
importance  than  that  of  food.  And  we  know  of  individuals  who  have 
interested  themselves  with  a  self-devotion  on  bitter  cold,  stormy  nights 
in  winter  by  personally  visiting  some  of  their  poor  neighbors  to  ascer- 
tain if  they  were  beyond  want,  or  had  sufficient  firewood  to  keep  them- 
selves and  families  from  suffering;  and,  without  ostentation,  we  know 
that  the  private  wood  piles  and  pork  barrels  have  contributed  time  and 
again  to  the  relief  of  the  cold  and  hungry,  and  not  through  agencies  or 
organized  charity  bureaus,  but  by  the  spontaneous  goodness  of  their 
humane  hearts. 

The  wasting  away  of  our  forests  was  an  ominous  menace 
to  the  human  race  in  our  latitudes.  It  was  estimated  that  the 
next  generation  would  see  the  final  consumption  of  our  forests. 
And  until  the  discovery  and  general  use  of  coal  as  a  fuel,  this 
view  was  pretty  generally  entertained.  Coal  was  first  used  for 
domestic  purposes  by  Judge  Jesse  Pell  of  WIlkes-Barre  in 
1808,  and  so  slow  was  its  progress  that  It  was  not  In  general 
use  in  1845,  but  it  solved  the  problem,  and  we  are  no  longer 
dependent  exclusively  upon  our  woodland  products  for  this 
great  essential  of  life.  But  even  now  there  are  timid  people 
who  speculate  upon  the  coal  exhaustion  as  being  within  human 
probability.     But  if  there  is  any  reliance  to  be  placed  upon 

30 


science,  geology  and  mathematics,  there  is  anthracite  enough  in 
the  bowels  of  our  earth  to  supply  us,  at  the  rate  of  present  con- 
sumption for  domestic,  mechanical  and  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, to  put  off  the  day  of  that  tribulation  at  least  60,000 
years,  at  which  period,  it  is  more  than  probable,  all  our  obli- 
gations to  humanity  will  have  lapsed. 


31 


CHAPTER  III. 

Brick. — Neighboring  Towns. — School  at  Hempstead. — ^The  Tinder  Box. 

Wednesday,  October  10,  1838. 

E  made  the  trip  yesterday  to  Manet  Hill  for  brick  with 
which  to  construct  a  well.  Well  brick,  that  is,  brick 
made  specially  for  wells,  or  curb  brick,  were  not  common 
in  stock  with  ordinary  dealers  or  brickyards.  But  the 
Montforts  at  their  kiln  at  Manet  Hill  kept  them  in  stock. 
We  left  home  about  half  past  four  A.  M.  with  two 
teams.  Manet  or  Manetto  Hill  is  of  little  or  no  historical  significance, 
being  simply  a  brick  manufactory.  It  is,  however,  a  radiating  point  of 
Indian  traditions.  It  was  the  fabled  home  of  the  great  Spirit  Sachem, 
or  Manetou  of  the  Algonkin  tribes  of  Long  Island,  and  it  was  here  that 
some  of  his  marvelous  feats  were  performed. 

Manet  Hill  is  located  about  midway  between  Long  Island  Sound 
on  the  North  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  South,  in  the  town  of 
Oyster  Bay,  just  East  from  Hicksville. 

Our  journey  was  along  the  South  Road  to  Merrick,  and  thence 
Northerly  along  the  Whale  Neck  Road  (in  early  times  an  Indian  trail 
only)  to  the  Plain  Edge,  or  Bethpage  Turnpike,  thence  to  Westbury 
along  a  road,  the  continuation  of  the  Whale  Neck  Road.  The  journey 
to  this  point  was  uninteresting  and  without  incident.  The  weather, 
however,  was  delightful.  There  were  some  well-to-do  farmers  along 
the  Plain  Edge  with  luxurious  surroundings;  otherwise  the  country  was 
poor,  with  but  little  show  of  thrift.  We  went  to  Westbury  to  call 
upon  a  relative  of  our  family,  after  which  we  drove  directly  to  Hicks- 
ville. 

Westbury  is  a  quaint  old  place,  the  principal  attractions  of  which 
are  the  evidences  ever5rwhere  of  its  antiquity  and  traces  of  the  memor- 
able past.  The  residences  are  scattered  about  at  random  along  a  country 
road,  which  made  itself;  the  dwellings  are  very  old  and  still  bear  the 
old  octagonal  cedar  shingle  dating  back  to  the  revolutionary  and  colonial 
days.  Some  of  these  old  houses  are  still  in  good  preservation  and  if 
cleaned  up  and  put  in  repair,  would  be  good  for  another  hundred  years. 
There  are  two  Friends'  meetings  houses  here.  It  was  here  that  Elias 
Hicks,  the  great  Quaker  preacher  and  reformer,  was  born.  He  preached 
a  creed  which  bears  his  name.  He  removed  to  Jericho,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  live  until  his  death  in  1830.  It  was  here  also  that  Rachel 
Hicks  was  born  (born  Seaman)  in  the  old  Seaman  homestead  in  1789, 
and  resided  until  her  marriage  with  Abraham  Hicks  of  Rockaway.  The 
old  Seaman  homestead  is  still  standing.     Rachel  was  a  relative  of  Elias, 

32 


and  like  her  renowned  kinsman,  became  a  great  preacher  and  reformer, 
but  not  along  the  same  lines.  She  was  a  most  rigid  orthodox  Christian. 
He  was  avowedly  unchristian,  declaring  that  the  scriptures  had  been  a 
great  curse  to  mankind  and  had  been  the  cause  of  more  evil  than  good 
in  the  world.  Hence  arose  the  schism  and  the  two  meeting  houses  at 
Westbury. 


Rachel  Hicks  died  at  the  age  of  ninety,  having  traveled  and 
preached  in  nearly  all  the  states  of  the  American  Union.  She  is  vene- 
rated here.  Many  of  her  followers,  however,  are  slipping  away  from 
their  simplicity  of  speech  and  dress  and  engaging  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world  like  other  folks. 

Hicksville  is  a  place  hard  to  describe,  there  being  nothing  here  to 
describe.  It  was  named  from  Ellas  Hicks  and  has  been  liberally  laid 
out,  but  sparsely  peopled.  There  is  a  hotel  and  a  car  house  of  the  Long 
Island  Railroad,  with  four  or  five  inconsiderable  residences  and  many 
mere  shanties.  The  principal  population  appears  to  be  dogs.  There 
were  hundreds  of  them ;  they  run  wild,  recognizing  no  master,  and  were 
under  your  feet  everywhere.  So  numerous  and  so  great  a  nuisance  have 
they  become  that  crusades  have  been  instituted  for  their  destruction. 
There  is  no  future  in  sight  for  Hicksville;  its  prospective  streets  arc 
grown  up  with  grass. 

From  Hicksville  our  route  lay  eastward  about  two  miles  to  Manet 
Hill,  where  we  arrived  about  10.30  o'clock.  We  purchased  the  brick, 
loaded  our  two  wagons,  fed  our  horses,  ate  our  lunch,  which  we  had 
brought  with  us,  and  left  at  about  one  o'clock. 

33 


We  took  another  route  on  our  way  home,  viz.,  through  Bethpagc 
and  Jerusalem  (omitting  Farmingdale),  both  of  which  are  rambling 
villages  grown  up  regardless  of  order,  one  in  Oyster  Bay  and  the  other 
in  Hempstead,  and  both  on  the  East  end  of  the  Great  Plains.  Beth- 
page  is  a  small  village  of  farmers  with  a  population  of  about  two  hun- 
dred inhabitants,  principally  Quakers,  with  a  tidy  meeting  house.  It 
is  a  clean,  comfortable  looking  place.  This  is  all  the  description  it  will 
stand ;  its  history  would  be  voluminous. 

Jerusalem  was  settled  by  Captain  John  Seaman,  of  Danish  origin. 
He  had  six  sons  and  six  daughters.  They  came  from  Stamford  in  1666, 
although  John  Seaman's  deed  for  6,000  acres  at  Jerusalem  bears  the 
date  1657.  It  was  witnessed  by  Wantagh,  Sachem.  There  are  now 
thousands  of  the  descendants  of  Captain  John  Seaman  in  the  United 
States,  and  they  fill  honorable  positions.  They  are  senators,  congress- 
men, lawyers,  judges,  doctors  and  generals,  and  they  are  still  in  evidence 
in  Jerusalem;  every  other  family  is  a  Seaman.  During  the  Revolution 
it  is  said  that  the  Seaman  family,  when  the  place  was  looted  by  one  of 
the  contending  armies,  had  the  silver  saved  by  one  of  their  slaves  throw- 
ing it  into  the  swill-barrel.  Tradition  says  that  a  village  community 
of  Indians  were  settled  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  when  the  white 
man  arrived  and  claimed  tribal  jurisdiction  over  all  the  territory  from 
Old  Westbury  to  Jerusalem  South.     They  were  supposed   to  be  the 


Rockaways.  The  deeds  to  the  Seamans  and  other  early  white  settlers 
were  executed  by  the  Rockaways,  Massapequas  and  the  Montauks 
through  their  Sachems.    As  the  lands  on  the  North  and  South  rim  of 


34 


the  island  became  cleared  and  brought  under  cultivation  by  the  whites, 
the  Indians  generally  retreated  to  the  woods  of  the  interior,  where  they 
could  follow  their  thriftless  methods  of  life  without  friction  from  the 
whites,  and  without  having  the  customs  of  civilization  forced  upon 
them. 

These  village  Indians  sustained  themselves  by  the  simplest  kind  of 
agriculture.  They  cultivated  a  small  patch  of  Indian  corn  and  squashes, 
and  by  clamming  and  fishing  in  the  waters  of  the  South  Bay  or  in  the 
Hempstead  Harbor  on  the  North,  and  by  hunting  in  the  forests  by 
which  they  were  surrounded,  in  this  manner  they  managed  to  exist. 
They  had  a  well  defined  trail  leading  from  Jerusalem  to  the  South  Bay 
and  another  to  Hempstead  Harbor. 

Straight  well-graded  and  well-kept  roads  have  succeeded  the  old 
trails,  designated  by  marked  trees.  The  status  of  these  blazed  highways 
is  attested  in  nearly  all  the  old  deeds  describing  or  locating  real  prop- 
erty on  the  island.  Trails  and  paths  were  the  logical,  as  streams  and 
rivers  were  the  natural,  boundaries  between  owners.  Another  Indian 
factor,  wampum,  appears  in  real  estate  transactions  at  Jerusalem.  It 
frequently  composed  a  part,  or  the  entire  consideration  between  the 
whites. 

The  ancient  Indian  village  mentioned  was  stockaded  and  the 
stream  at  the  place  ran  through  it.  It  is  probable  that  the  stockade 
enclosed  a  piece  of  ground  now  owned  and  occupied  by  S.  Seaman  near 
the  Friends'  meeting  house,  but  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  A  sim- 
ilar stockade  was  constructed  by  the  Indians  at  Fort  Neck  for  their  pro- 
tection, and  the  Dutch  at  Flatbush  enclosed  the  Steinbokkery,  and  the 
English  at  Hempstead  erected  similar  defences. 

The  return  route  from  Manet  Hill  was  more  interesting  than  the 
one  we  went  over.  After  leaving  Jerusalem,  which  has  no  prominently 
defined  village  center  or  boundaries,  it  being  a  straggling  cluster  of 
dwellings  of  thrifty  agriculturalists,  storekeepers  and  an  occasional  in- 
dustry, numbering  in  population  not  over  three  hundred,  mostly 
Quakers.  At  this  point  is  a  crossroad.  We  left  the  Jerusalem  Road  and 
turned  Southwesterly  through  a  continuous  settlement,  or  continuation 
of  Jerusalem,  to  Merrick,  and  ended  the  day  in  arriving  at  home  about 
eight  o'clock.  In  a  straight  line  Manet  Hill  is  about  fourteen  miles 
from  our  house,  but  following  the  tortuous  roads  increased  the  distance 
traveled  to  about  sixteen  miles. 

Tuesday,  October  18,  1838. 

Notices  had  been  posted  in  several  conspicuous  places  in  School 
District  No.  10,  Town  of  Hempstead,  calling  for  a  special  meeting  of 
the  freeholders  of  the  district  at  the  schoolhouse  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1838,  at  early  candle  light.  The  purpose  of  the  meeting  being  to  author- 
ize Christian  Snedecker,  Abraham  Miller  and  Elbert  Tredwell,  Trus- 
tees, to  repair  schoolhouse  and  to  contract  for  fuel  for  the  coming  winter. 
We  obtained  permission  to  attend  the  meeting.    The  schoolhouse  is  an 

35 


exceedingly  old  structure,  located  at  Bethel  on  the  road  leading  from 
Hick's  Neck  to  the  village  of  Hempstead.  The  old  house  has  been 
standing  between  seventy-five  and  one  hundred  years  and  is  shockingly 
out  of  repair;  at  best,  it  is  an  old  barrack.  The  structure  is  about  fifty 
feet  by  twenty,  of  wood,  clapboards  of  oak.  Light  is  admitted  to  the 
interior  through  seven  square  windows  distributed  along  the  three  sides 
of  the  building,  with  solid  board  shutters  hung  on  hand  made,  wrought 
iron  hinges  without  fastenings,  except  the  logs  of  wood  which  stand 
against  them,  serving  the  double  purpose  of  keeping  them  open  or  shut, 
as  circumstances  required,  may  claim  that  dignity. 

The  interior  of  the  Bethel  schoolhouse  consists  of  an  entry  and  one 
schoolroom,  sealed  entirely  with  plain  boards,  no  superfluity  of  paint  or 
plaster  intruded  to  mar  its  absolute  rusticity.  The  great  oaken  beams 
axed  square  are  exposed  overhead.  The  desk  at  which  the  pupils  sit  is 
constructed  of  common  pine  boards  and  extends  continuously  around 
three  sides  of  the  interior,  the  surface  of  which  is  nearly  covered  with 
the  rudely  cut  initials  of  three  generations  of  ambitious  students.  The 
master's  desk  is  on  a  slight  elevation  in  the  Northwest  corner  of  the 
room.  On  reaching  the  schoolhouse,  no  one  had  yet  arrived,  but  the 
freeholders  soon  began  to  gather  around  the  outside  of  the  house. 
Finally  the  clerk  of  the  district  and  the  school  trustees  arrived.  On 
entering  the  schoolhouse,  it  was  discovered  that  there  was  no  light  and 
no  provisions  had  been  made  for  making  it.  Light  on  such  occasions 
was  usually  furnished  by  someone  living  contiguous  bringing  a  lantern, 
or  tinder  box,  but  here  seemed  to  be  an  absence  of  both.  In  this  dilemma 
someone  in  the  audience  in  derision  called  out,  "Strike  a  Light"  (having 
reference  to  the  tinder  box  method).  Now,  although  friction  matches 
had  been  invented  more  than  three  years  previously,  they  were  not  in 
general  use  in  School  District  No.  10.  Israel  Frost,  however,  the  store- 
keeper at  Milburn  Corners,  to  the  astonishment  of  many  of  the  assem- 
bled freeholders,  produced  a  light  by  means  of  the  marvelous  friction 
match  (a  thing  so  different  from  the  present  friction  match  as  not  to  be 
recognized  by  the  present  generation  as  such),  from  which  nine  tallow 
candles  supported  against  the  board  ceiling  of  the  room,  with  corrugated 
tin  reflectors,  were  lighted,  and  the  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  El- 
bert Tredwell,  chairman  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  they  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  business.  The  meeting  had  been  called  for  the  purpose  of  em- 
powering the  trustees  to  expend  an  amount  of  money  in  repairing  the 
schoolhouse  and  in  procuring  fuel  for  the  coming  winter.  After  many 
resolutions  and  amendments,  which  seemed  to  us  to  have  little  to  do 
with  the  real  issue,  it  was  resolved  that  the  trustees  spend  an  amount  not 
exceeding  fifty  dollars  in  repairing  the  schoolhouse.  And  for  fuel  the 
contract  was  awarded  to  Jacob  Smith  (of  William)  for  thirty-two 
dollars,  the  wood  to  be  seasoned  hickory  and  to  be  delivered  at  the 
schoolhouse  in  four-foot  lengths.  The  meeting  adjourned.  A  desultory 
conversation  was,  however,  carried  on  for  an  hour  or  more,  principally 

36 


concerning  the  building  of  a  new  schoolhouse  in  a  more  convenient 
and  more  central  locality  in  the  district. 

The  question  of  a  new  schoolhouse  had  always  been  a  fruitful  one 
for  discussion  and  dispute;  it  had  been  agitated  thirty  years  before  this 
meeting.  (And  forty  years  later  it  was  consumated.)  The  people  of 
Hempstead  took  a  great  interest  in  the  matters  of  schools  during  the 
town's  early  history.  The  first  schools  established  on  Long  Island 
were  at  Hempstead,  and  as  early  as  1675.  This  claim  is  disputed  by 
Newtown,  but  after  an  investigation  we  award  the  honor  to  Hemp- 
stead. 

It  has  been  said  that  there  were  small  results  from  these  early 
schools.  To  answer  this  objection  we  have  only  to  note  the  contrast 
between  the  children  brought  up  in  school  communities  and  those  who 
are  not.  If  no  other  result,  a  marked  thriftiness  and  better  manners 
are  characteristics  of  those  neighborhoods  which  are  supplied  with 
schools.    This  is  true  of  all  time. 

Our  earliest  recollection  of  this  honored  seat  of  learning,  the 
Bethel  schoolhouse,  was  in  1832,  at  which  period  and  to  the  present 


•Qvi\tvc\    <^t\\o©\ 


1838,  it  was  used  six  days  of  the  week  for  school  purposes,  for  Methodist 
prayer  meetings  on  Friday  nights,  and  occasionally  religious  services  on 
Sunday.  We  remember  on  one  occasion  old  Jimmy  Horton,  the  great 
Methodist  revivalist,  preached  there  on  Sunday  to  an  audience  brought 
together  from  ten  miles  about  the  schoolhouse,  which  did  not  hold  one- 
sixth  of  those  assembled. 

At  the  period  above  referred  to  William  Fowler  was  the 


37 


master.  He  had  succeeded  Master  Ellison.  Master  Fowler 
came  in  answer  to  an  advertisement  for  a  teacher.  He  was 
popular,  but  he  had  at  least  one  failing.  At  times  he  took 
too  much  *'fire  water/'  and  caused  school  to  be  closed,  some- 
times two  or  three  days.  He  was  succeeded  by  Jesse  Pettit, 
a  teacher  who  rendered  faithful  service  for  many  years  in  this 
school.  He  subsequently  became  a  proselyte  to  Mormonism 
and  moved  with  his  entire  family  to  the  city  of  the  Saints  in 
Nauvor.  His  successor  was  John  McGee,  an  Irishman,  and  a 
man  of  more  than  average  ability.  He  taught  there  many  years. 
He  married  Maria,  daughter  of  Samuel  Miller,  and  settled 
at  Christian  Hook.  These  teachers  were  not  men  of  great 
learning  or  pretentiousness,  but  they  were  qualified  for  the 
work  they  had  before  them. 

The  conversation  of  the  freeholders  turned  finally  to  friction 
matches,  an  exhibition  of  which  had  been  witnessed  by  many  of  them  for 
the  first  time  this  evening;  but  with  that  audience  friction  matches  had 
no  defenders.  It  was  quite  the  unanimous  opinion  that  they  were  an 
expensive  and  dangerous  luxury,  only  for  the  rich,  and  could  not  be 
made  to  serve  the  poor  man  to  advantage,  nor  could  they  ever  come  into 
general  use.  The  bayman  could  not  use  them  because  they  would  not 
endure  dampness,  or  continued  stormy  weather.  It  would  be  impossible 
for  this  invention  ever  to  supply  the  place  of  the  time-honored  and 
trusty  old  tinder  box,  which  was  much  more  convenient,  perfectly  safe, 
and  costs  nothing.  One  remarked  that  these  matches,  like  all  other 
new-fangled  things,  were  against  the  poor  man,  were  against  the  Bible — 
an  invention  of  the  Devil  (Lucifer).  And  by  this  little  knot  of  free- 
holders of  School  District  No.  10  of  the  Town  of  Hempstead,  lucifer 
matches  were  doomed  to  failure. 

The  foregoing  is  a  verbatim  copy  from  the  Journal,  writ- 
ten more  than  sixty  years  ago  (now  1900).  The  conservative 
old  tinder  box  civilization  has  passed  out  and  the  friction 
match  is  monarch.  It  is  sold  one  thousand  (enough  to  fire  a 
city)  for  five  cents.  It  has  been  made  waterproof  and  will 
endure  in  any  climate;  while  the  tinder  box  is  now  stored  away 
with  the  rubbish  of  the  garret  or  is  kept  on  exhibition  among 
the  antiquities  or  muniments  of  the  past.  No  discovery  since 
the  landing  of  Columbus  has  been  more  potent  in  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Long  Island  than  that  of  the  friction  match.     "Strike 

38 


a  Light,"  is  typical  of  a  whole  civilization,  from  the  barbarian 
to  the  nobleman,  for  the  attainment  of  which  monks  have 
fasted,  anchorites  have  prayed,  but  which  science  alone 
achieved.  That  Prometheus  climbed  the  heavens  and  with 
Minerva  stole  fire  from  Jupiter  and  bestowed  it  upon  man,  ap- 
peared in  the  ingenuous  minds  of  our  ancestors  concerning  the 
origin  of  fire,  but  the  myth  has  long  since  ceased  to  satisfy  us. 
Neither  ancient  history,  nor  the  legendary,  or  traditionary  ac- 
counts of  the  existing  savage  races  throw  any  light  upon  the 
question  of  the  origin  or  discovery  of  fire.  The  narratives 
contained  in  the  oldest  records  are  obviously  mythical,  like  the 
fable  of  Prometheus,  which  of  itself  is  but  a  version  of  the 
older  Vedic  myth  of  the  God  Agni,  who,  having  taken  fire 
from  a  casket,  gave  it  to  the  first  man,  Manu,  through  Pro- 
mantha,  which,  in  the  old  Vedic  language,  means  to  accomr 
plish  by  means  of  friction.  Of  the  same  character  are  all  the 
myths  of  savage  races  of  the  origin  of  fire,  having  been 
brought  by  some  wonderful  bird,  or  animal,  or  God,  and  pre- 
sented to  man. 

The  discovery  of  fire  and  the  art  of  reproducing  fire  and 
light  must  be  regarded  as  among  the  greatest  achievements  of 
the  human  intellect.  The  uses  of  fire  lie  at  the  foundation  of 
every  human  industry,  and  it  seems  that  the  epoch  of  man's 
advancement  dates  from  the  discovery  of  fire,  and  that  without 
it  he  could  not  have  arisen  much  above  the  condition  of  the 
brute. 

The  reception  of  this  little  thing  is  a  type  of  the  reception 
of  every  invention,  and  the  prejudice  it  had  to  subdue  was  typi- 
cal of  true  progress. 

In  1835  there  were  serious  dissensions  in  the  New  York 
Tammany.  A  meeting  of  Tammany  delegates  had  been  called 
at  the  hall  for  eight  o'clock.  Tammany  at  this  time  was 
divided  into  two  factions.  Regulars  and  Independents.  At  the 
hour  appointed  the  Independents  began  to  gather.  They 
found  the  doors  of  the  hall  locked  and  a  meeting  proceeding 
inside.     The  Regulars  had  gained  access  in  advance  and  had 

39 


proceeded  with  the  business — a  trick  by  no  means  new  to  the 
Tammany  code.  No  deliberation  was  taken  to  determine  what 
course  to  pursue.  The  doors  of  the  hall  were  forced  and  the 
Independents  entered,  to  find  that  the  Regulars  had  transacted 
all  the  business  for  the  evening  and  were  just  preparing  to  ad- 
journ. A  rough  and  tumble  fight  ensued,  in  which  the  Regu- 
lars were  forcibly  ejected  from  the  hall  and  their  minutes  de- 
stroyed. But  before  retiring,  the  Regulars  had  managed  to 
shut  of?  the  gas,  thus  leaving  the  victorious  Independents  in 
total  darkness.  Then  came  the  cry,  * 'Strike  a  Light."  But 
some  Independent,  contemplating  a  contingency  of  this  kind, 
came  prepared  with  candles  and  the  newly  invented  friction 
matches,  which  enabled  him  instantly  to  "Strike  a  Light," 
which  he  did,  and  the  regular  meeting  was  organized  under 
the  call  and  proceeded  with  the  business.  The  Regulars,  how- 
ever, took  their  revenge  by  nicknaming  their  opponents  "Loco 
Focos,"  by  which  opprobrius  epithet  they  are  known  to  this 
day. 

The  origin  of  the  expression  "Strike  a  Light"  is  un- 
doubtedly very  ancient,  going  back  probably  to  the  discovery 
of  the  earlist  methods  of  producing  fire.  Our  Philological 
Society  of  Washington,  under  Colonel  Garrick  Mallery,  took 
up  this  subject,  and  on  a  thorough  scientific  investigation  found 
out  and  reported  that  although  the  expression  was  very  an- 
cient, yet  it  could  not  be  assigned  to  a  period  as  early  as  the 
cosmos,  for  the  Creator  did  not  in  the  beginning  "Strike  a 
Light,"  but  said:  "Let  there  be  Light."  However,  Virgil, 
in  the  ^Eneid,  refers  to  the  tinder  box  method  for  obtaining 
fire.  This  establishes  very  great  antiquity  for  the  tinder  box, 
and  we  have  also  the  text  of  Cicero  in  "Treatise  De  Natura": 
"Lapidum  conflicta  atque  tritu  slice  igneum  videmus."  All  this 
goes  far  in  fixing  the  use  of  the  tinder  box  in  classical  times. 

We  remember  the  old  tinder  box  with  great  distinctness  as 
an  indispensable  appurtenance  of  the  household  in  our  youth. 
No  house  could  be  sustained  without  it,  and  so  complete  and 
sudden  was  the  revolution  retiring  it  that  it  is  entirely  unknown 

40 


to  the  present  generation,  save  traditionally.  No  greater  boon 
was  conferred  upon  the  housekeeper  than  the  invention  of  the 
lucifer  match.  The  conservative  country  people  were  tardy  in 
adopting  it.  Although  fairly  introduced  and  in  common  use 
in  the  city  in  1835,  it  was  not  in  general  use  on  Long  Island  in 
1838.  The  reason  was  probably  the  expense,  and  then  some 
accidents  had  happened  through  its  use,  and,  again,  it  was  not 
deemed  waterproof. 

Some  of  these  old  tinder  boxes  (household  gods)  were  of 
elaborate  construction  and  ornamentation.  There  were  hun- 
dreds of  forms,  usually  from  four  to  six  inches  in  diameter,  and 
some  of  simple  construction,  many  of  which  are  now  preserved 
in  our  museums,  to  which  we  must  resort  for  a  study  of  them. 
The  material  of  which  they  were  made  was  tin  or  brass.  We 
remember  the  tinder  box  as  holding  the  highest  rank  among 
household  equipments  on  Long  Island.  There  were  no  other 
means  by  which  we  could  obtain  light  or  fire.  "Strike  a 
Light!" 

The  tinder  box  familiar  to  us  was  neither  tin  nor  brass, 
but  consisted  of  the  crooked,  tapering  horn  of  the  ox,  or  some 
other  of  the  bovine  tribe.  It  was  about  ten  inches  long,  hol- 
low, and  the  larger  end,  which  was  open,  was  about  three  and 
^  half  inches  in  diameter.  This  was  a  cumbersome  and  awk- 
ward fixture  and  it  seems  strange  that,  considering  the  univer- 
sal use  in  previous  times  of  wood  friction  to  produce  fire,  that 
there  were  so  few  improvements  on  this  primitive  method  and 
tools.  These  improvements  are  compressed  into  two  inven- 
tions, viz.,  the  bow  and  drill  and  the  pump-drill,  which  are  not 
to  be  ranked  as  machines,  but  rather  as  machine  tools.  A 
machine  which  combines  the  parts  of  the  ordinary  two-stick  fire 
drill  was  seen  in  use  on  the  Nile  above  the  second  cataract  in 
1868.  This  was  a  survival  of  the  old  friction  method;  they 
had  not  yet  reached  the  tinder  box  age. 

The  appurtenances,  or  equipments  complete,  of  the  Long 
Island  tinder  box  were,  first,  the  horn,  then  the  tinder.  The 
latter  consisted  of  charred,  or  calcined,  or  carbonized  rags, 

4  41 


which  were  placed  in  the  horn  and  kept  stopped  when  not  in 
actual  use  by  a  ball  of  rags  or  some  other  soft  material,  so  that 
the  horn  could  be  closed  air  tight.  A  flint  and  steel  were  also 
a  part  of  the  equipment.  The  flint  was  the  same  as  that  used 
by  the  common  old-fashioned  flintlock  gun  of  the  period. 
These  flints  were  for  sale  at  all  the  country  stores  (in  fact,  a 
complete  outfit  could  be  obtained  at  any  country  store).  The 
steel  was  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  wide,  one-quarter  of 
an  inch  thick,  and  about  a  foot  long.  All  the  above  constituted 
the  plain  working  outfit.  There  were  some  outfits  which  made 
pretentions  to  artistic  structure,  but  none  probably  excelled  for 
convenience  the  horn  equipment. 

There  was  but  one  method  for  obtaining  fire,  and  that 
was  by  the  ever  faithful  tinder  box;  and  there  were  but  two 
processes  by  which  fire  could  be  preserved  from  day  to  day. 
One  was  to  bury  a  mass  of  live  hickory  coals  in  ashes  over 
night,  or  burn  a  night  lamp  or  rush  taper.  The  former  was 
frequently  resorted  to.  The  latter  was  a  luxurious  method  and 
could  not  be  indulged  in  by  the  poor  farmer  or  fisherman,  to 
whom  the  only  alternate  was  the  friendly  tinder  box  and  the 
friendly  mendicant  shaving  match. 

Down  to  about  the  year  1833  the  tinder  box  was  to  be 
found  as  a  matter  of  course  in  the  kitchen  of  every  house  in  the 
land.  It  had  been  in  use  for  ages  and  had  undergone  little  or 
no  variation.  Yet  its  disappearance  was  extraordinarily  sud- 
den and  complete  after  the  introduction  of  the  friction  match. 
Less  than  a  generation  later,  almost  within  a  decade,  the  tinder 
box  had  become  little  more  than  a  vague  tradition  of  the  past, 
and  examples  are  to  be  found  now  only  in  the  cabinets- of  the 
antiquary.  Few  other  instances  of  the  disappearance  so  sud- 
denly of  a  domestic  contrivance  so  ancient  can  be  cited.  To  at- 
tempt to  trace  the  origin  of  the  tinder  box  is  futile.  The  very 
name  comes  to  us  from  the  early  ages,  for  the  obsolete  English 
root  verb  to  tind,  or  to  tindle,  meaning  originally  to  kindle,  or 
to  set  on  fire,  comes  from  the  old  Anglo-Saxon,  with  tyndan 
having  the  same  signification.     But  the  tinder  box  is  vastly 

42 


more  ancient  than  Saxon  times.  Long  before  iron  was  known 
in  the  smelted  form,  nodules  of  iron  pyrites,  such  as  were 
often  found  in  chalk,  were  used  with  a  piece  of  flint  and  some 
kind  of  tinder  to  produce  fire.  Evidences  of  such  have  been 
found  in  the  Swiss  lake  dwellings  and  in  British  Barrows. 


Z   DfcJlIZ 


Nsrttvt 


i2.  inchts 


•O  >r\cW?,5, 


C\cXV\  l=b.ik 


The  tinder  box  varied  infinitely  in  shape  and  size  and 
material,  though  identical  in  its  purpose.  In  bedrooms  and 
dressing  rooms  they  were  of  superior  material  and  structure, 
brass,  copper,  tin,  and  sometimes  silver.  The  steel  was  of 
myriad  forms  and  shapes  to  suit  the  fancy  of  the  factor.  The 
horn  tinder  box  was  for  common,  everyday  use.  It  was  handy, 
but  one  of  more  elaborate  structure  decorated  the  kitchen  man- 
tel piece.  In  our  house  it  was  made  of  tin,  with  a  socket  for  a 
candle  on  the  lid,  and  was  about  five  inches  in  diameter.  There 
were  some  made  of  wood,  with  a  compartment  to  hold  the 
steel,  flint,  brimstone  matches  and  candle. 

The  Dutch  tinder  boxes,  those  brought  from  home,  were 
all  wood,  and  some  were  ornately  and  elaborately  carved, 
real  works  of  art.     There  were  many  of  these  among  the 

43 


Dutch  settlers.  The  imported  English  article  was  always 
metal,  and  all  with  some  pretentions  to  ornamentation.  One 
of  silver,  belonging  to  the  Searing  family  of  Hempstead,  we 
saw  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Lewis  Searing.  It  belonged  to 
the  plate  of  the  Searing  family.  The  structure  was  plain,  bur- 
nished and  without  ornamentation.  The  Searing  tinder  box 
was  exhibited  at  a  show  of  antiques  at  Hempstead  in  1866  or 
1867. 

The  expression,  "Strike  a  Light,"  as  uttered  at  the  school 
meeting,  brought  up  no  other  vision  but  of  the  tinder  box. 
Without  going  into  detail,  the  tinder  method  of  striking  a 
light  is  the  earliest  known  to  us,  save  that  of  our  still  more  re- 
mote savage  ancestors  by  the  friction  of  two  pieces  of  dry 
wood.  Ethnological  science  has  made  this  method  too  well 
known  for  further  illustration.  The  Eskimo  obtained  light  by 
striking  pieces  of  quartz  and  iron  pyrites  together,  directing 
the  spark  to  fall  upon  moss  dried  and  prepared  for  the  pur- 
pose. This  was  also  striking  a  light.  Among  many  of  the 
half-civilized  races,  where  the  tinder  box,  or  a  similar  contriv- 
ance, is  used  for  obtaining  fire,  as  in  Siberia,  the  name  in 
their  language  is  synonymous  with  "Strike  a  Light. '^ 


44 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Historic  White  Oak  Tree. — Capture  of  the  Schooner  I'Armistad. — Indian 
Shell  Heaps. — Indians  of  Long  Island. 

Friday,  March  1,  1839. 

SEVERE  winter  has  closed,  superceded  by  a  no  less 
disagreeable  and  inclement  spring,  for  the  weather  is 
still  cold  and  piercing,  but  the  power  of  the  sun  has  a 
dissolving  effect  upon  the  frost-bound  earth,  and  a  few 
more  days  we  may  hope  to  see  stronger  evidences  of 
spring.      Volumes    have    been    written    upon    "Gentle 

Spring,"  "Etherial  Mildness,"  etc.,  with  but  an  hypothetical  existence 

outside  of  the  poet's  realm. 

Wednesday,  March  6,  1839. 

Reports  were  received  here  a  few  days  ago  that  a  great  freshet  pre- 
vailed at  Hempstead  Village.  The  roads  here  have  been  absolutely  im- 
passable in  consequence  of  mud  for  any  wheeled  vehicle,  and  communi- 
cation is  nearly  cut  off. 

Subsequently,  by  special  messenger,  member  of  our  family,  the 
reports  of  the  flood  at  Hempstead  have  been  confirmed.  It  was  known 
that  great  quantities  of  snow  had  accumulated  on  the  Hempstead 
Plains  during  the  last  winter,  which  had  been  unusually  severe,  and  the 
ground  was  frozen  to  a  great  depth.  The  heavy  rains  which  have  pre- 
vailed recently  flooded  the  plains  back  of  the  village.  The  waters 
flowed  down  the  two  brooks  which  run  through  the  village,  swelling 
them  to  an  enormous  size.  These  streams  form  a  union  just  South- 
west of  the  village  and  supply  the  motor  power  for  a  series  of  grist 
mills.  The  snow,  ice  and  every  other  thing  that  could  aid  in  forming 
a  blockade  collected  in  the  swamp  at  the  union  of  the  streams,  near  the 
residence  of  Gid  Nicols,  and  completely  choked  up  the  stream,  throwing 
the  accumulated  waters  back  upon  the  village.  The  water  rose  to  a 
height  of  five  feet  in  the  dry-goods  store  of  Mr.  Weeks,  corner  of 
Front  and  Main  streets,  and  was  of  equal  depth  in  the  shoe  store  of  Mr. 
Burtis,  and  in  Mr.  Grossman's  hat  store.  It  was  six  feet  deep  on  the 
turnpike.  The  entire  length  of  Front  street  was  three  or  four  feet 
under  water.  Snedeker's  lumber  yard  was  all  afloat;  timely  warning 
saved  their  horses.  Lester  Bedell,  who  lived  on  the  other  stream,  West 
of  the  main  village,  left  his  house  when  the  water  had  risen  to  one  foot 
on  his  parlor  floor. 

When  the  water  broke  through  the  blockade  it  rushed  down  with 
great  fury  and  carried  away  all  the  mill  dams  on  the  stream,  except 

45 


Mordecai  Smith's,  which  was  saved  by  opening  the  flood-gates  and 
emptying  the  pond  before  the  flood  reached  it.  The  damage  in  Hemp- 
stead is  said  to  be  considerable,  aggregating  many  thousands  of  dollars. 
All  the  dwellings,  shops  and  stables  on  the  low  ground  along  the 
streams  were  flooded  and  some  were  carried  away.  The  residence  of 
Isaac  Eldred,  farmer,  northeast  of  the  village,  with  his  farm  houses  and 
barns,  occupied  an  island  in  a  lake  miles  in  extent.  Floods  have  pre- 
vailed this  season  all  over  the  country.  Some  in  New  Jersey  were 
disastrous. 

Wednesday,  July  10,  1839. 

Benjamin  F.  Thompson's  History  of  Long  Island,  containing  an 
Account  of  the  Discovery  and  Settlement,  with  other  important  and 
interesting  matters,  etc.,  was  this  day  delivered  at  our  house.  It  pur- 
ports to  be  a  complete  history  of  the  Island  to  the  present  time  and 
was  published  by  E.  French,  146  Nassau  Street,  New  York.  This  is 
the  first  book  ever  published  purporting  to  give  a  succinct  history  of 
Long  Island.  We  anticipate  much  pleasure  in  reading  this  book.  Mr. 
Thompson  was  many  years  in  the  compilation  of  it,  and  being  himself 
a  Long  Islander,  he  took  great  pride  in  his  work.  He  labored  for 
correct  information  and  spared  no  pains  in  obtaining  it,  in  the  collection 
of  which  he  was  greatly  facilitated  by  his  familiar  relations  with  the 
prominent  citizens  of  the  island. 

Saturday,  August  3,  1839. 

A  very  severe  thunderstorm  came  up  suddenly  this  afternoon  and 
lingered  a  long  time  at  the  South  of  us.  It  appeared  to  be  very  severe 
on  the  Ocean  just  outside  the  beach,  and  caused  a  very  heavy  tide,  and 
may  have  done  much  damage  at  sea.  Its  effect  was  not  very  great  on 
the  land,  but  was  fitful.  It  was  an  unusual  storm,  in  consequence  of 
which  we  have  taken  cognizance  of  it. 

Sunday,  August  4,  1839. 

During  the  thunderstorm  yesterday  the  land-mark  and  historic 
old  white  oak  standing  at  the  brow  of  the  hill  east  of  our  house  was 
blown  over.  What  a  history  that  old  Quercus  could  tell  were  it 
endowed  with  memory  and  speech,  and  how  insignificant  our  Reminis- 
cence! It  is  an  immense  tree,  the  largest  by  great  odds  on  our  farm, 
and  probably  the  largest  in  the  town.  Its  butt  was  four  and  a  half 
feet  in  diameter.  It  was  a  gigantic  tree  when  the  first  white  man  set 
foot  on  this  farm  and  had  endured  hundreds  of  equally  violent  storms, 
and  it  succumbed  not  from  an  apparent  weakness  above  ground,  but 
in  its  foundation.  We  were  familiar  with  every  limb  and  branch  of 
this  old  veteran.  There  was  not  a  bough  that  we  had  not  explored  hun- 
dreds of  times.  We  had  climbed  to  its  very  summit,  from  which  could 
be  obtained  a  full  view  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  This  tree  was  not  only 
noted  for  its  great  age;  it  was  a  handsome  tree.     True,  its  limbs  were 

46 


crooked,  angular  and  knobby,  but  they  spread  out  to  a  uniform  length 
and  its  outlines  were  symmetrical.  It  had  given  shade  and  shelter  to 
thousands  of  creatures.  We  have  seen  it  absolutely  covered  by  a 
tumultuous  mob  of  black  birds,  holding  a  carnival,  and  all  talking  at 
the  same  moment.  We  have  seen  its  branches  ready  to  break  under 
the  v^eight  of  wild  pigeons,  every  available  standing  place  being  occupied. 
It  was  a  rendezvous  for  robins,  cedar-birds  and  crows. 

The  wealth  of  happiness  flowing  from  this  old  tree  will  never  be 
admeasured.  It  was  an  ornithological  museum  of  moving  forms,  an 
hundred  volumes  of  inedited  natural  history.  It  was  an  object  lesson 
every  day  in  the  year.  The  old  tree,  maybe,  was  the  survivor  of  a 
forest  of  its  peers,  but  stood  alone  during  our  time,  my  father's  and 
grandfather's. 

My  grandfather  preserved  a  flint  arrow  head  found  under  a  pro- 
jecting root  in  his  youth.  This  spot  may  have  been  the  scene  of  an 
original  conflict  before  the  innovation  of  the  palefaces.  Among  the 
old  stories,  or  traditions,  which  are  mostly  experiences  only,  of  this 
historic  tree,  there  are  preserved  no  tragedies  or  comedies.  There  is 
an  old  tradition  that  the  Algonkin  had  a  sort  of  veneration  for  the  old 
tree  in  consequence  of  it  being  the  haunt  of  the  sacred  owl  of  his 
theology,  and  that  while  people  of  our  day  (ourselves  included)  have 
a  kind  of  feeling  described  as  creepy  when  on  a  quiet  evening  the  start- 
ling, penetrating  e-ough — e-ough — e-ough  of  the  screech  owl  bursts 
from  the  old  tree,  w^hich  the  Indians  translated  into  a  warning  of  evil. 
We  know  better,  but  we  cannot  help  feeling,  like  the  old  negro,  "that 
suthim  wus  goin'  to  hap'n."  It  is  said  that  during  the  Revolutionary 
war  two  loyalists,  or  tories,  whose  names  it  would  not  be  courtesy  to 
mention,  out  of  regard  to  surviving  relations,  escaped  arrest  and  prob- 
ably hanging  by  storing  themselves  away  in  the  knobby  branches  of  the 
old  oak  until  the  pursuit  was  over,  while  others  who  had  taken  to  the 
swamp  for  safety  were  captured  and  treated  with  great  severity.  The 
field  in  which  the  tree  stood  had  never  been  under  cultivation;  conse- 
quently all  the  scars  upon  the  surface  earth  might  be  said  to  remain. 
There  was  a  well  worn  path  from  the  foot  of  the  tree  over  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  feet,  to  the  ruins  of  an 
ancient  spring  at  the  edge  of  the  swamp.  This  spring  and  path  were 
never  used  by  the  white  man. 

No  Indian  relics  were  found  (save  the  arrowhead  of  my  grand- 
father) on  or  near  the  premises.  There  were,  however,  evidences  of 
fire  on  the  side  of  the  hill  from  remains  of  embers,  coals,  ashes  and 
discolored  pebbles  and  gravel.  The  fireplace,  if  such  it  were,  was 
about  ten  feet  wide,  cut  into  the  side  hill ;  the  excavated  earth  had  been 
graded  in  front,  forming  a  crude  hearth.  This  would  seem  to  indicate 
that  the  fire  place  was  in  the  interior  of  an  enclosure  or  dwelling,  and 
had  been  used  for  heating.  However,  that  form  of  structure  is  not 
conformable  to  Indian  Custom. 

47 


The  storm  which  destroyed  the  old  oak  was  not  purely  local, 
was  attended  with  lightning  and  thunder  and  began  with  a  little  hail, 
but  no  rain.  The  wind  did  not  seem  to  be  exceedingly  violent,  and 
none  of  the  neighboring  trees  bore  evidence  of  the  storm.  On  examina- 
tion of  the  fallen  tree  there  had  been  an  effect  which  might  have  resulted 
from  a  spiral  or  whirlwind.  The  fate  of  this  familiar  and  favorite 
object  of  our  life  is  sealed. 

In  life  the  old  tree  stood  out  a  tower  of  strength.  Bleak  and 
defiant  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  it  was  the  most  prominent  object  on 
approaching  the  place  from  any  direction.  It  had  survived  the  greed 
and  avarice  of  man.  It  had  endured  the  fury  of  three  centuries  of 
winter  blasts.  It  had  escaped  the  lightning  shafts  of  a  thousand  thunder- 
storms, to  be  uprooted  and  prostrated  by  a  half  developed  hurricane, 
which  an  hundred  greater  had  failed  to  disturb.  So  much  of  the  old 
monarch  as  will  make  proper  timber  for  boat  building  my  uncle,  Daniel 
Smith,  will  purchase,  thus  prolonging  its  usefulness  another  half  century ; 
the  remainder  will  be  consigned  to  the  wood  pile. 

*'Requiescat  in  pace" 

Tuesday,  August  13,  1839. 

A  great  fire  is  raging  in  the  pines  near  Farmingdale.  The  wind 
has  come  in  from  the  Northeast  and  we  are  nearly  suffocated  with  the 
smoke.  Should  we  get  rain,  which  is  very  probable,  it  will  put  an  end 
to  the  burning,  it  is  to  be  hoped.  This  is  the  second  great  forest  fire 
this  year  in  the  Long  Island  woods  in  the  neighborhood  of  Central 
Islip  and  Farmingdale.  When  this  wooded  territory  is  once  burned 
over  it  is  forever  after  useless  as  a  wood  or  fuel  producer.  These 
forests  have  yielded  hundreds  of  thousands  cords  of  wood,  but  since 
the  introduction  of  coal  as  a  fuel  the  consumption  has  not  been  so 
great.     It  is  now  being  used  for  kindling  and  for  charcoal. 

,  September,  1839. 

In  the  early  part  of  September,  1839,  great  excitement  was  created 
on  Long  Island,  which  spread  over  the  entire  country,  in  consequence 
of  party  feeling  engendered,  and  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country 
regarding  the  matter  involved,  and  with  forced  party  issues.  The 
cause  of  the  agitation  was  the  capture,  inside  of  Montauk  Point,  by 
Lieutenant  Ceding,  in  command  of  the  United  States  Brig  Washington, 
of  a  large  schooner  named  I'Armistad  with  a  cargo  of  African  negroes 
intended  for  slavery.  It  seems  that  the  I'Armistad  had  sailed  from 
Havana,  Cuba,  for  the  Port  of  Principe  with  a  large  number  of  negroes 
intended  to  be  sold  as  slaves. 

On  an  investigation,  later,  it  turned  out  that  during  the 
passage  from  Havana  the  negroes  had  arisen  upon  the  officers 
of  the  I'Armistad,  all  of  whom  they  murdered,  and  took  posses- 

48 


sion  of  the  schooner,  sparing  only  the  white  crew,  and  two 
persons  who  were  represented  as  passengers,  of  whom  one  was 
a  seafaring  man  and  had  been  in  command  of  a  vessel,  and 
was  qualified  to  navigate.  He  was  placed  in  charge  by  the 
negroes  and  commanded  to  take  the  I'Armistad  back  to  Africa. 
But  he  deceived  them,  brought  the  vessel  into  American  waters 
and  ran  her  in  at  Montauk,  where  the  capture  took  place.  Af- 
ter the  capture,  which  took  place  without  resistance,  Lieutenant 
Ceding  took  his  prize  over  to  New  London,  Connecticut  (Aug- 
ust 29,  1839),  it  being  the  nearest  United  States  port,  and  de- 
livered her  over  to  the  authorities.  The  negroes  were  at  once 
put  under  arrest  and  locked  up  on  a  charge  of  piracy.  The 
monstrous  injustice  of  this  act  and  the  helpless  condition  of  the 
negroes  set  the  country  on  fire  and  the  indictment  for  piracy 
called  out  thousands  of  sympathizers,  and  some  breaches  of 
the  peace.  A  public  meeting  was  held  at  Brooklyn  at  which 
S.  S.  Joselyn,  Joshua  Leavett  and  Lewis  Tappan  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  raise  funds  to  defend  the  rights  of  the 
negroes.  After  a  great  struggle  in  the  State  courts  their  case 
was  taken  to  Washington  and  Judge  Story  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  entered  a  decree  releasing  the  negroes, 
and  granting  an  order  justifying  the  uprising.  But  the  issues 
arising  were  pregnant  with  party  bitterness  among  the  born 
agitators,  which  did  not  subside  at  once. 

During  the  pendency  of  the  investigations  and  trial  par- 
tizans  arose  among  the  political  parties  ready  to  embrace  any 
opportunity  to  foment  trouble.  The  two  passengers  were 
also  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.  Complications  grew, 
and  the  whole  country  was  in  a  foment.  All  the  old  questions 
of  Free  Soil,  Abolition,  etc.,  were  threshed  over.  The  negroes 
were  free,  and  probably  the  only  guilty  parties,  the  officers  of 
the  I'Armistad,  were  dead.  The  liberation  of  the  negroes  and 
their  restoration  to  Liberia  resulted  in  the  foundation  of  the 
Mendi  Mission,  still  a  living  institution. 

But  the  matter  was  not  over;  the  complications  threatened 
to  rupture  amicable  relations  with  Spain  and  the  United  States. 

49 


Spain  put  In  a  claim  for  indemnity  with  a  somewhat  belligerent 
attitude,  the  false  attitude  of  which  demand  was  shown  in  the 
voluminous  diplomatic  correspondence  of  Daniel  Webster  with 
the  government  of  Spain  on  this  subject.  There  were  ques- 
tions raised  in  this  controversy  between  the  two  sections  of 
this  country  on  the  subject  of  this  capture  which  were  never 
settled  until  the  first  gun  was  fired  on  Fort  Sumpter  in  the  con- 
flict between  the  North  and  South. 

Wednesday,  September  11,  1839. 

This  day  was  spent  in  searching  and  digging  for  Indian  curiosities 
in  the  old  shell  heap  in  the  swamp  lot.  Owing  to  the  heavy  rains  which 
have  prevailed  for  several  days  past,  it  was  deemed  a  propitious  time  to 
hunt  for  Indian  relics  on  the  surface  In  open  fields  and  sand  hills,  in 
which  localities  they  were  not  infrequently  washed  out.  The  rains 
not  only  unearthed  many  relics;  they  rendered  more  conspicuous  those 
lying  on  the  surface. 

We  were  rewarded  with  a  few  knives,  arrow  heads,  as  Mr.  Potter 
(Plerrepont  Potter),  the  teacher,  calls  them,  all  imperfect  specimens; 
that  is,  having  been  used  and  more  or  less  broken,  but  being  probably 
more  valuable  to  the  collector  for  all  that. 

On  our  farm  and  near  our  residence  was  an  ancient  Indian 
shell  heap.  It  was  on  the  north  bank  of  a  small  stream  which 
ran  through  the  farm  and  was  probably  at  one  time  the  head 
of  tide-water.  Evidences  of  an  earth  causeway  from  the  stream 
over  the  bog  to  the  shell  heap  and  more  solid  ground  still  ex- 
ists and  testify  to  long-continued  use. 

At  the  period  of  the  entries  In  this  journal  these  relics 
of  ancient  shell  heaps  over  various  parts  of  the  country  were 
just  beginning  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  antiquary  and 
scientist.  We  shall  here  (this  being  the  work  of  later  years) 
attempt  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  relics  which  so  much  in- 
terested us  when  a  boy,  and  which  Interest  became  much  greater 
as  we  advanced  Into  manhood. 

There  was  nothing  remarkable  about  the  shell  heap 
spoken  of  to  distinguish  it  from  thousands  of  others  all  over 
the  world  except  that  It  was  Inland  (they  usually  occur  on  the 
margins  of  bays,  lakes  and  rivers),  and  being  Inland,  Indicated 

so 


that  It  was  the  site  of  an  Indian  settlement,  or  near  a  village. 
When  the  Indians  were  interrogated  by  the  early  white  set- 
tlers about  these  remains  they  said  they  were  very  old  and 
were  there  when  they  came.  They  were  undoubtedly  the  ac- 
cumulations of  many  generations,  and  showed  stratification, 
or  seemed  to  have  been  deposited  In  layers.  This  may  be  ac- 
counted for  on  the  theory  that  the  Indians  did  not  continuously 
remain  here,  and  that  during  their  absence,  sometimes  for 
years,  maybe.  In  consequence  of  tribe  hostilities,  the  deposits 
became  covered  with  soil,  upon  which,  on  their  return,  were 
again  deposited  a  layer  of  shells.  That  the  authors  of  the 
shell  heaps  were  a  migratory  p>eople,  or  carried  on  a  traffic 
with  distant  tribes,  seems  plausible  from  the  fact  that  copper 
axes  of  rude  structure  were  not  uncommon  among  the  finds 
on  this  part  of  the  Island.  These  axes  evidently  came  from 
the  Lake  Superior  district.  Inhabited  In  early  times  by  the  Al- 
gonkln,  to  whom  the  Long  Island  Indians  were  blood  rela- 
tions. There  are  four  such  copper  axes  In  the  Long  Island 
Historical  Society  Museum,  found  just  east  of  RockvIUe  Cen- 
tre, In  a  group  of  twenty  surrounding  another  copper  axe,  two 
feet  below  the  surface.  They  seem  to  be  associated  with  some 
superstition.  Three  of  such,  or  similar  axes,  were  found  at 
Rockvllle  Centre  and  two  at  East  Rockaway,  their  sizes  being 
respectively  6  by  3>4  and  7  by  4  Inches,  and  were  also  de- 
posited In  said  museum. 

Chisels,  axes,  and  mauls  were  also  found  on  Long  Island, 
the  material  of  which  came  from  a  long  distance  In  the  In- 
terior. There  have  been  spear  heads  found  on  Long  Island, 
for  which  there  was  no  known  service.  They  were  a  foot  long 
and  three  Inches  wide  and  were  probably  brought  here  by  In- 
dians from  a  distance,  and  may  possibly  have  been  medicine 
spears,  such  as  were  common  with  the  Oregon  Indians  of  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

It  is  evident  that  the  tribes  of  the  interior  regarded  this 
part  of  the  coast,  with  Its  numerous  land-locked  bays  and 
water  thoroughfares,  as  an  ideal  location  for  their  summer 

51 


encampments,  added  to  the  temperate  climate  and  the  inex- 
haustible supply  of  fish  and  clams,  the  abundance  of  fruit  and 
every  variety  of  aquatic  wild  fowl,  as  well  as  the  larger  game, 
with  which  the  forests  abounded,  made  Long  Island  a  desir- 
able camping  ground  for  the  Indian.  Many  came  from  the 
North  and  West,  from  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  and  the  posi- 
tive testimony  of  my  great-grandfather  is  that  down  to  his  day 
Indians  occupied  locations  on  the  farm  every  summer  and  en- 
gaged in  clamming  and  fishing,  but  retired  in  the  winter.  He 
said  report  showed  that  in  1701  the  Indians  had  already 
diminished  in  Hempstead  and  other  parts  of  Long  Island; 
the  only  locations  where  they  held  their  own  were  on  the  south 
side  at  the  necks  convenient  to  the  bay. 

It  has  elicited  much  surprise  that  so  productive  a  country 
and  so  bountifully  stocked  with  food  animals  as  Long  Island 
was,  supported  so  small  a  population  of  human  beings  as 
were  found  here  at  the  time  of  the  discovery,  but  it  probably 
had  all  that  it  would  sustain  of  savage  or  half-civilized  races. 
In  fact,  there  are  good  reasons  for  believing  that  the  aborig- 
inal population  was  never  much,  if  any,  greater  than  when  the 
white  man  first  landed.  We  can  readily  perceive  how  a  race 
in  possession  only  of  instruments  of  the  stone  age,  and  who 
were  preyed  upon  by  enemies  which  threatened  and  enfeebled 
them,  must  necessarily  make  slow  progress  in  population,  or 
in  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

There  was,  however,  a  gradual  elevation  among  them, 
but  it  was  along  their  lines  and  not  those  of  the  white  man. 
These  people  drew  their  subsistence  almost  entirely  from  the 
spontaneous  productions  of  the  earth,  seas  and  forests,  and 
when  these  sources  were  drawn  upon  above  their  natural  pro- 
ducing capacity  a  dearth  in  such  products  inevitably  followed, 
and  a  consequent  falling  off  in  the  supplies  of  the  population; 
but  after  a  readjustment  had  taken  place  and  an  equilibrium 
restored,  that  is,  the  supply  equal  to  the  demand,  the  result 
was  again  harmonious. 

But  so  soon  as  the  white  man  appeared  permanently,  with 


52 


his  devices  for  subduing  nature  and  for  the  capture  and  de- 
struction of  animal  life,  the  equilibrium  was  again  destroyed. 
He  made  heavier  demands  upon  nature,  which  nature  could 
not  supply,  and  diminution  began  under  his  improved  methods 
of  agriculture,  the  forests  melted  away,  and  the  haunts  and 
means  of  subsistence  of  animal  and  game  life  to  disappear. 

This  was  equally  true  of  the  waters.  The  Indian  had 
never  captured  beyond  the  increase  and  the  greatest  amount  of 
animal  life  was  maintained.  Soon  after  the  appearance  of 
the  white  man,  whales  ceased  to  visit  our  coast.  Seals,  or  sea 
dogs,  once  existing  in  great  numbers  in  the  South  Bay,  were 
annihilated,  and  the  fishes  began  to  become  scarce,  and  many 
varieties  entirely  disappeared,  and  from  that  time  to  the  pres- 
ent the  civilized  population  increased  and  improved  means 
for  destruction  were  invented;  in  just  such  ratio  did  the  food 
supply  of  the  sea  decrease.  So,  we  believe  that  the  maximum 
population,  drawing  its  support  from  unaided  nature,  had  been 
reached  before  the  advent  of  civilization,  and  which  just  main- 
tained an  equilibrium  between  demand  and  supply.  This 
routine  is  not  by  fixed  and  constant  laws,  but  undulating.  An 
extremely  dry  season  affects  herbivorous  animals;  a  long  and 
severe  winter  destroys  whole  tribes  of  wild  game,  and  similar 
causes  may  affect  aquatic  products,  and  years  may  be  required 
to  restore  the  former  conditions,  maybe  never. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  method  or  culture  of  the  shell 
remains  on  Long  Island  upon  which  to  hypothecate  that  any 
other  race  than  the  American  Indian,  such  as  survived  to  our 
day,  had  ever  occupied  this  territory,  that  is,  no  race  of  super- 
ior attainments  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

The  implements  found  here,  arrow  and  spear  heads,  axes, 
mortars  and  sinkers,  were  found  everywhere  along  the  South 
side.  Rude  ovens,  fireplaces,  cinders  and  charred  shells,  bone 
needles,  or  awls,  for  making  their  bark  boats  and  garments, 
the  arrow  and  spear  heads  bore  no  evidence  of  any  other  race 
or  higher  civilization. 

Again  reverting  to  the  shell  deposits  on  the  farm,  they 

53 


were  not  in  mass,  that  is,  not  in  one  heap,  but  in  several,  as 
convenience  dictated.  They,  the  Indians,  having  no  design  or 
order  in  their  arrangement  or  distribution.  When  they  iirst 
arrested  pur  attention,  they  had  been  much  scattered  and  cov- 
ered a  piece  of  ground  equal  to  an  acre. 

Friday,  September  20,  1839. 

Went  out  to  the  bay  yesterday  with  my  father.  This  is  a  favorite 
recreation  of  his  and  many  entries  .of  similar  excursions  might  be  made 
in  this  journal,  at  the  risk,  however,  of  being  tedious.  On  the  way  out 
we  pass  many  Indian  shell  heaps  bleached  as  white  as  snow,  which  tliey 
much  resemble  at  a  distance.  Some  of  them  on  the  banks  of  the  creek 
extend  from  fifteen  to  thirty  feet  upon  the  bank  and  under  the  water, 
in  many  instances  entirely  across  the  creek.  These  shell  heaps,  long  ere 
this,  had  excited  our  curiosity  and  we  had  proposed  all  manner  of  ques- 
tions concerning  their  authors.  These  questions  my  father  did  not  and 
could  not  satisfactorily  answer,  and  we  were  consequently  unsatisfied, 
and  hence  there  was  a  constantly  recurring  inquiry.  My  father  is 
greatly  interested  in  these  shell  heaps,  their  contents  and  their  authors, 
and  especially  the  one  on  our  farm;  and  he  was  pleased  to  observe  the 
interest  manifested  by  us.  He  had  preserved  with  great  care  all  arrow 
heads,  stone  axes,  bones  of  animals,  and,  in  fact,  everything  found  which 
might  indicate  the  handiwork  of  man.  He  knew  these  shells  to  be  the 
remains  of  Indians  who  had  inhabited  this  and  the  surrounding  country 
and  who  were  now  fast  becoming  extinct,  and  he  therefore  neglected 
no  opportunity  of  preserving  any  relic  which  might  possibly  throw 
light  upon  their  origin,  or  history.  He  did  not  accept  all  the  current 
and  common  theories  concerning  them.  He  made  a  broad  distinction 
in  the  causes  which  resulted  in  the  remains,  such  as  were  found  on  the 
farm,  and  those  of  the  more  extensive  mounds  nearer  the  ocean,  and 
more  directly  on  the  shore  adjoining  the  fishing  ground  of  which  we 
have  spoken.  The  former,  that  is,  on  the  farm,  were,  he  claimed,  the 
remains  of  clams  opened  for  food  for  family  use  and  should  be  classed 
as  refuse  heaps  (Kitchen  Middens),  while  the  latter  were  the  remains 
of,  or  chips  of,  wampum  manufactories.  His  conclusions  were  reached 
from  careful  observation  and  exploration  of  the  heaps.  A  large  per- 
centage of  the  shells  on  the  farm  had  never  been  broken,  while  on  the 
other  mounds  a  search  failed  to  reveal  any  whole  shells.  And,  again, 
among  the  shells  found  on  the  farm,  conspicuous  were  the  skimmer 
clam  shell  (mactra  solidissima) .  From  the  latter  shells  found  in  their 
kitchen  refuse  heaps  it  is  evident  that  the  Indian  had  no  such  prejudices 
as  the  white  man  of  Long  Island  regarding  this  mollusc,  by  whom  it  was 
considered  inedible.  None  of  these  shells  were  found  on  wampum 
heaps.  The  shells  of  this  clam  were  used  by  the  Indians  in  working 
and  hilling  their  corn,  and  subsequently  by  the  whites  as  skimmers  in 

54 


taking  the  cream  from  the  top  of  the  milk;  hence  the  name  of  skimmer 
shell.  There  were  also  found  fragments  of  the  winkle  {fulgar  carica). 
Broken  specimens  of  the  hinge  of  the  scollop  {pecten  irradians)  were 
also  found  in  quantities  sufficient  to  lead  us  to  believe  that  this  luxurious 
mollusc  formed  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  their  food. 

In  the  manufacture  of  wampum,  only  a  small  portion  of  the  shell 
of  the  hard  clam  (venus  mercenari)  was  used,  to  obtain  which  every 
shell  must  be  broken,  this  being  unnecessary  in  the  case  of  those  opened 
for  food  or  preserving  for  family  or  clan  use.  There  was  a  prevailing 
tradition  among  the  old  people  of  the  neighborhood  that  this  shell  heap 
on  our  farm  w^as  the  remains  of  a  great  tribal  feast,  or  pow-wow,  at 
which  a  gigantic  clam  bake  was  served  to  thousands  of  braves  who  were 
guests  of  the  Algonkins,  the  participants  being  Leni  Lenapes,  Pequots, 
Iroquois,  Delawares,  Creeks  and  the  Narragansetts,  and  at  which  feast 
the  presiding  half-deity  Manetto  of  middle  Long  Island  was  the  central 
figure.  That  such,  or  similar,  feast  was  held  there  may  be  true,  but 
that  one  feast  resulted  in  so  vast  a  deposit  of  shells  cannot  be  true ;  there 
were  shells  enough  on  this  field  for  forty  such  feasts.  It  may  have  been 
the  locality  for  an  annual,  bi-annual,  or  tri-annual  feasts  of  confederate 
tribes,  and  some  color  is  given  to  this  theory  from  the  fact  of  the  stratifi- 
cation of  shells,  or  alternate  layers  of  shells  and  soil,  as  if  there  had  been 
a  lapse  of  time  between  the  depositions.  Be  that  as  it  may,  we  know 
all  that  we*shall  ever  know  on  this  subject;  the  ground  has  been  so 
thoroughly  threshed  over  for  new  facts  that  nothing  remains  to  be 
discovered. 
[  In  many  respects  the  country  in  this  immediate  vicinity  appears  to 

>  have  been  one  of  great  consequence  to  the  aborigines,  of  which  the  num- 
"  her  and  extensive  shell  deposits  lying  within  a  circuit  of  two  or  three 
I  miles,  the  vast  number  of  arrow  heads  and  other  implements  of  savage 
'■;  industry  which  have  enriched  archaeological  museums  from  this  locality, 
;  is  abundantly  confirmatory. 

There  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  these  broken  shells  at  a  place  called 
lithe  Hummocks  on  the  south  side  of  Long  Beach  Run,  west  from  New 
v  Inlet.    These  remains  extend  over  an  irregular  piece  of  ground  probably 
\  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  and  on  the  water  side  slope  down 
into  the  water  with  perfect  regularity  at  an  angle  of  about  45°  to  the 
depth  of  thirty  feet  below  the  surface.    Many  stone  sinkers  w^re  found 
here. 

There  is  another  extensive  heap  on  Swift  Creek,  about  one  and  a 
:  half  miles  east  of  the  latter  and  northeast  from  Jones  Inlet,  and  near 
the  famous  resort  for  sporting  men  known  as  John  C's. 

There  are  other  remarkable  remains  at  Squaw  Island,  about  one 
and  a  half  miles  east  of  the  last  named  in  the  bay  at  Oyster  Bay,  and 
opposite  to  Fort  Neck,  a  beautiful  and  fertile  tract  of  land  jutting  out 
into  the  South  Bay.  It  was  on  this  piece  of  ground.  Fort  Neck,  that 
the  most  noted  battle  of  Long  Island  between  the  Indians  and  whites 

55 


took  place.  The  Massapequas,  Merikoes  and  Patchogues  had  erected 
a  stronghold  at  this  place,  determined  here  to  make  their  last  grand 
resistance  against  their  warlike  neighbors.  In  1653  a  man  of  unenviable 
fame,  Captain  John  Underbill,  made  an  unprovoked  attack  upon  this 
stronghold.  Before  hostilities  commenced  the  Indians  removed  their 
women  and  children  to  Squaw  Island,  which  is  presumably  the  island 
above  mentioned.  The  battle  was  the  fiercest  and  most  stubbornly  con- 
tested ever  had  on  Long  Island  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites,  and 
ended  in  the  total  defeat  and  cruel  and  inhuman  slaughter  of  the  Indians. 
It  is  said  that  three  hundred  perished  in  this  battle,  and  the  burial  place 
of  the  great  chiefs  is  still  marked  by  a  mound  enclosing  an  acre  of 
ground. 

John  Underbill  was  born  in  Warwicksbire,  England,  in 
1596.  He  came  witb  Jobn  Wintbrop  and  bis  900  emigrants 
to  Boston  in  1630.  His  wife,  Helena,  was  a  member  of  Old 
Soutb  Cburcb  in  1633.  Sbe  was  tbe  motber  of  Jobn  Under- 
bill, 2d,  baptized  1642.    He  died  at  Soutbold,  L.  I.,  in  1658. 

But  the  most  extensive  shell  deposits  are  at  Milburn  on  Tred- 
well's  or  Hick's  Neck  Creek,  down  which  we  sailed  today.  There  are 
several  on  each  side  of  the  creek.  One  large  ridge  on  the  upland  west 
of  the  creek  is  from  three  to  ten  feet  high  and  is  said  to  be  composed 
entirely  of  shell  deposits.  This  ridge  is  a  series  of  shell  mounds,  the 
most  extensive  probably  in  this  country,  far  excelling  those  of  Saint 
John's  River,  Florida.  It  is  not  unlikely,  says  Benjamin  F.  Thompson, 
in  his  History  of  Long  Island,  that  all  the  largest  shell  heaps  on  Long 
Island  are  the  remains  of  wampum  manufactories.  Next,  in  bulk  and 
importance,  to  those  of  Hick's  Neck  above  named,  probably  the  most 
extensive  wampum  manufactory  in  the  United  States  was  at  Bergen 
Island,  King's  County. 

The  remains  at  Hick's  Neck  Creek  are  also  of  great  antiquity, 
judging  from  the  trees  now  growing  upon  their  surface.  The  Indians 
who  had  become  extinct  only  within  the  memory  of  persons  yet  living 
ascribed  these  mounds  to  a  former  race.  This  ridge  or  series  of  mounds 
is  at  Bedell's  Landing  on  the  west  side  of  Hick's  Neck  (Milburn) 
Creek  at  a  point  where  the  creek  turns  easterly.  There  is  another  on 
the  East  side  of  the  creek  about  two  hundred  yards  distant  on  a  piece 
of  meadow  now  belonging  to  Jacobus  Golden,  where  the  creek  turns 
suddenly  southward,  and  still  another  one  at  Miller's  Landing  a  few 
hundred  yards  southwest  of  the  latter,  where  the  creek  turns  south- 
easterly and  debouches  into  the  bay.  All  of  these  are  interesting  and 
important  remains.  Sinkers,  spear  heads  and  other  implements  have 
been  found  in  all  of  them. 

We  made  an  opening  into  the  ridge  at  Bedell's  Landing,  and  found 
the  shells  pervading  to  the  depth  of  six  feet,  and  we  had  not  then  reached 

56 


the  bottom.  In  fact,  the  currents  at  the  bend  of  the  creek  had  under- 
mined and  exposed  a  section  of  the  ridge  at  this  point  and  the  shells 
appeared  to  be  ten  feet  deep.  The  wagon  road  from  Bedell's  to  Lott's 
Landing,  a  distance  of  about  eight  hundred  feet,  is  on  the  top  of  a 
ridge  and  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  shells  and  black  earth,  the 
result  of  decomposed  animal  matter. 

All  the  shells  found  in  these  mounds,  so  far  as  our  research 
extended,  and  the  condition  of  the  shells  would  warrant,  belong  to  the 
order  quohog.  Excavations  made  along  the  ridge  for  the  purpose, 
among  other  things,  of  removing  the  shells  for  fertilizers,  yielded 
unsatisfactory  results  of  the  remains  of  man,  only  a  few  arrow  heads 
(National  History  Department,  Long  Island  Historical  Society). 

Notwithstanding  the  strong  evidence  of  the  great  antiquity  of  these 
shell  mounds  and  the  universal  acceptance  of  them  as  the  remains  of 
wampum  manufactories,  we  cannot  quiet  doubts  arising  in  our  mind 
that  the  Indians  ever  engaged  in  any  system  of  organized  labor;  they 
seemed  to  be  incapable  of  the  mental  and  physical  concentration. 


57 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Indians  of  Long  Island. 

Sunday,  September  2^,  1839  {Continued), 

HE  shell  heap  on  our  farm,  as  has  been  stated,  was  at  the 
head  of  canoe  navigation  on  the  stream  which  is  a  branch 
of  the  Hick's  Neck  (Milburn  or  Lott's)  Creek,  and 
about  three  miles  from  the  bay,  or  clamming  ground, 
and  was  probably  the  center  of  a  village  commun- 
ity. 

My  grandfather  said  that  in  his  day  many  Indians  and 
half-breeds  (some  are  still  living  there)  had  become  fairly  re- 
spectable farmers  and  had  conformed  to  a  great  extent  with 
the  English  mode  of  life.  There  are  families  of  half-civilized 
natives  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood  the  year  round  in  com- 
munities consisting  of  twenty  to  thirty  who  seemed  to  have 
survived  to  better  conditions.  They  were  a  peaceable,  quiet 
people,  would  not  beg,  but  would  steal  when  pinched  by  hun- 
ger. They  occupied  little  patches  of  ground  which  they  tilled 
and  which  some  of  them  owned;  others  were  squatters.  They 
fished  and  picked  berries  in  summer,  and  trapped  in  winter, 
made  baskets  and  made  the  nets  of  fishermen. 

The  great  staple  earth  products  of  the  Indians  were  maize 
and  beans,  from  which  we  have  succotash,  also  samp-porridge, 
pure  Algonkin  words.  They  were  also  great  berry  eaters  and 
during  the  summer  the  huckleberries,  grapes  and  particularly 
the  wild  cherry,  contributed  largely  to  their  subsistence,  al- 
though there  was  an  abundance  of  game.  The  domiciled 
Indians  laid  in  stores  of  nuts,  the  hickory,  chestnut  and  acorns, 
the  latter  of  which  they  made  into  a  kind  of  flour  paste  and 
baked  it. 

In  reverting  to  the  communities  spoken  of  by  my  grand- 
father, it  illustrates  the  clannishness  of  the  Indian,  a  state  of 
society  out  of  which  he  had  only  half  evolved,  although  he  had 

58 


reached  the  status  of  a  village  dweller.  If  a  village  community 
occupied  the  spot  near  the  shell  heap  on  the  farm  in  times 
prior  to  the  innovation  of  the  whites,  and  the  concensus  of 
opinion  is  that  they  did,  then  such  residences  must  have  con- 
sisted of  long  houses,  known  in  the  Algonkin  as  hodensots 
(long  houses),  and  occupied  by  from  four  to  six  families  each, 
some  of  the  dwellings  being  eighty  or  ninety  feet  long.  This 
was  the  method  of  the  Algonkin  in  the  structure  of  their  dwell- 
ings. A  cluster  of  such  structures  constituted  a  village  with  a 
permanent  population.  While  little  doubt  remains  that  even 
in  these  early  times  there  was  a  great  influx  of  native  popula- 
tion to  this  part  of  Long  Island  in  the  summer,  yet  the  per- 
manent population  was  considerable.  The  emigrating  popula- 
tion lived  in  wigwams  and  tents  of  transitory  structure.  The 
permanent  village  population,  although  barbarians,  had 
reached  that  stage  toward  civilization  distinguished  as  tillers 
of  the  ground;  they  had  a  government,  paid  taxes  or  tribute  to 
support  the  power  which  protected  them. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  English,  this  tribute  was  paid  in 
wampum  to  the  Pequots  and  Algonkins  of  Massachusetts. 
The  Annals  of  Hempstead^  by  Onderdonk;  The  Antiquities 
of  Hempstead,  by  Onderdonk;  Thompson's  History  of  Long 
Island,  and  Furman's  Notes  are  works  to  be  consulted  by  the 
inquisitive  in  matters  concerning  Long  Island  in  colonial  and 
pre-colonial  times. 

We  find  the  Algonkin  represented  as  dwelling  in  great 
numbers  on  the  necks  of  the  south  side  of  Long  Island.  He 
appeared  to  be  the  earliest  human  occupant  and  as  natural  a 
product  of  the  soil  as  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forests,  with  whom 
he  contended  on  equal  terms  "the  right  to  be.'*  He  had  none 
of  the  luxuries  of  life,  from  our  point  of  view,  but  he  was 
contented,  indolent,  improvident  and  happy.  His  wants  were 
few  and  simple,  all  of  which  were  supplied  by  the  spontaneity 
of  nature;  his  greatest  anxiety  was  for  his  next  dinner. 

The  Indian  of  Hempstead  prior  to  the  advent  of  the 
English  settlers  was  not  a  savage;  he  had  advanced  a  long 

59 


way  beyond  savagery.  He  dwelt  in  communities;  he  had  an 
unwritten  code;  he  was  an  agriculturist;  he  had  a  currency; 
his  sachems  derived  their  power  from  the  people,  popular  will. 
But  notwithstanding  all  this,  he  could  not  hold  against  the 
white  man's  civilization,  and  his  decline  dates  from  his  first 
contact  with  the  white  man. 

Let  it  be  understood  that  the  Indian,  prior  to  the  advent 
of  the  white  man,  was  quite  a  different  thing  from  the  degen- 
erate being  of  the  period  of  our  ancestors.  The  processes 
historically  of  his  decline  are  fragmentary  and  incomplete,  and 
to  fill  the  hiatus,  his  historian  has  resorted  largely  to  specula- 
tion. Here  for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  or  up  to  the  period 
of  the  dissolution  of  the  last  pure  Algonkin,  two  forces  were 
at  work,  and  processes  operating  in  the  presence  of  each  other 
— one  an  inferior  civilization  going  out,  and  another,  a  super- 
ior coming  in,  or  supplanting  the  former.  They  did  not  in 
any  marked  degree  merge  or  mix.  There  was  no  distinct  class 
created,  a  result  of  mixture,  as  the  mulatto,  the  combination  of 
the  white  and  negro.  The  Indian  as  a  rule  could  not  reach 
the  plane  of  the  white  man's  civilization  and  he  continued  In- 
dian to  the  last. 

Of  the  stages  along  the  line  of  ascent  or  descent  we  now 
know  nothing;  we  have  the  result — annihilation.  The  de- 
tailed processes  which  marked  the  downfall  and  extinction  of 
the  Indian  are  not  of  history.  All  the  records  we  have  of 
the  Algonkin  at  Hempstead  South,  all  that  is  left  from  which 
we  are  to  gather  his  sad  history,  and  upon  which  to  affirm  even 
his  existence,  are  here  and  there  an  earth  mound  and  shell 
heap  of  doubtful  chronology,  a  few  flint  arrowheads  and  now 
and  then  legislation  by  state  and  town  enactments  with  evi- 
dent intentions  to  save  him  from  his  impending  fate,  but  all 
in  vain.  Physiologically,  here  and  there  in  the  present  gen- 
eration his  characteristics  survive  in  the  high  cheek  bones, 
straight  black  hair,  almond  eyes,  dark,  sallow  complexion,  a 
general  unthriftiness,  and  an  indifference  to  the  higher  methods 
of  civilization.     From  the  public  documents  and  from  private 

60 


testimony  it  would  seem  that  the  early  settlers  in  the  Town  of 
Hempstead  made  every  effort  to  treat  fairly  with  the  Indian. 
There  is  abundant  evidence  in  our  possession  that  my  grand- 
father and  great-grandfather  had  much  sympathy  for  the  In- 
dian. All  of  which,  of  course,  was  from  the  white  man's  point 
of  view,  viz,,  to  raise  the  former  to  the  status  of  the  white 
man,  and  prevent  the  latter  from  sinking  to  the  status  of  the 
savage.  The  former  was  difficult  to  accomplish,  the  latter  dif- 
ficult to  prevent.  The  Indian  was  required  to  substitute  for 
his  habits  of  life  those  of  the  white  man,  and  with  a  large  por- 
tion, and  especially  the  influential  class  of  whites,  every  effort 
was  used  to  make  this  result  as  easy  as  possible  for  the  In- 
dian without  compromising  the  white  man  or  his  civilization. 
There  is  abundant  evidence  that  there  were  many  white  men 
ready  to  lapse  into  savagery. 

The  following  excerpts  of  laws  concerning  the  Indian 
passed  in  1664  and  at  various  times  subsequently  at  the  gen- 
eral assemblies,  or  town  meetings,  at  Hempstead,  L.  I.,  are 
given  to  show  the  consideration  of  the  people  for  the  Indian 
in  his  helplessness,  and  also  to  protect  him  against  the  rapacity 
of  designing  men  and  to  elevate  him,  to  all  of  which  he  seemed 
so  indifferent.  No  history  written  at  the  present  day  could 
give  more  truthfully  the  true  relations  between  the  Indian  and 
the  white  man  than  these  random  extracts  from  the  Laws  of 
the  Freeholders  of  the  Town.  The  following  are  extracts 
only  of  these  laws: 

"No  purchase  of  lands  from  the  Indians  after  the  first 
'*day  of  March,  1664,  shall  be  esteemed  a  good  title  without 
"leave  first  being  had  and  obtained  from  the  Governor,  and 
"after  leave  so  attained  the  purchaser  shall  bring  the  Sachem 
"and  right  owner  of  such  lands  before  the  Governor  to  ac- 
"knowledge  satisfaction  in  the  payments  received  for  the  said 
"lands,  whereupon  they  shall  have  a  grant  from  the  Governor, 
"and  the  purchase  so  made  and  prosecuted  is  to  be  entered 
"upon  record  in  the  office,  and  from  that  time  to  be  valid  to  all 
"intents  and  purposes." 

61 


"All  injuries  done  to  the  Indians  of  what  nature  what- 
ever shall,  upon  the  complaint  and  proofs  thereof  in  any 
court,  have  speedy  redress  gratis,  against  any  Christian  in 
as  full  and  ample  manner  (with  reasonable  allowance  for 
damage)  as  if  the  same  had  been  between  Christian  and 
Christian." 

"No  person  shall  sell  or  give  or  barter,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, any  Gun  or  Guns,  Powder,  Bullet,  Shot,  Lead,  nor  any 
Vessel  of  Burthen  or  Row  Boats,  Canoes  only  excepted, 
without  License  first  had  and  obtained  from  the  Governor's 
hand  and  Seal,  to  any  Indian  whatsoever,  nor  to  any  person 
inhabiting  out  of  this  Government,  nor  shall  mend  or  repair 
any  Gun  belonging  to  any  Indian,  nor  shall  sell  any  armour 
or  weapons,  upon  penalty  of  ten  pounds  for  every  Gun,  Ar- 
mour, Vessel  or  Boat  so  sold,  given  or  bartered,  five  pounds 
for  every  pound  of  powder,  forty  shillings  for  every  pound 
of  shot  or  lead,  and  proportionally  for  any  greater  or  less 
quantity." 

"No  person  shall,  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1665,  directly  or  indirectly,  trade  with  the  Indians 
for  any  sort  of  furs  without  license  first  had  from  the  Gov- 
ernment, which  license  is  to  be  renewed  every  year  at  the 
Governor's  pleasure  remained  if  he  shall  find  just  Excep- 


tions." 


"No  person  whatsoever  from  henceforth  shall  Sell, 
Truck,  Barter,  give  or  deliver  any  Strong  Drink  or  Liquors 
to  any  Indian,  directly  or  indirectly,  whatsoever  known  by 
the  name  of  Rum,  Strong  Waters,  Wine,  Brandy,  Spirits,  or 
any  other  Strong  Liquors  under  any  other  name  whatsoever, 
under  the  penalty  of  forty  shillings  for  one  pint  and  so  pro- 
portionably  for  greater  or  lesser  quantities  so  Sould,  Bartered 
or  delivered,  as  aforesaid.  One  third  part  of  this  penalty  to 
be  to  the  informer.  Provided  always  that  it  is  and  shall  be 
lawful  by  way  of  reliefs  and  chanty  to  any  Indian  in  case  of 
sudden  extremity,  sickness,  faintness  or  weariness,  to  sell  or 
give  to  such  Indian  or  Indians  the  quantity  of  two  drames 

62 


'and  no  more  of  any  such  Strong  Liquors  as  are  afore-men- 
'tioned.  Provided  also  that  the  Governor  by  License  may 
'Authorize  any  person  to  sell  any  or  all  such  Strong  Liquors 
'to  Indians  upon  Security  taken  from  the  person  Licensed  for 
'his  or  their  good  behavior." 

"In  all  Places  within  this  Government  the  English  and 
'all  others  shall  keep  their  cattle  from  destroying  the  Indian's 
'Corne  in  any  ground  where  they  have  right  to  plant,  and  if 
'any  of  their  Corne  be  destroyed  for  want  of  fencing,  the 
'Town  shall  make  satisfaction  and  shall  have  power  amongst 
'themselves  to  lay  the  charge  when  the  Occasion  of  the  Dam- 
'age  did  arise.  Providing  that  the  Indian  shall  make  proofs 
'the  cattle  of  such  Town  of  —  farms  or  Person  did  the 
'Damage.  And  for  the  Indian's  encouragement  towards  the 
'fencing  in  their  Corne  fields  such  Towns,  farms  or  Persons 
'where  cattle  may  annoy  them  that  they  shall  direct,  assist 
'and  help  them  in  felling  of  trees,  striving  and  sharpening 
'Railes  and  holling  of  Posts,  allowing  one  Englishman  to 
'three  or  more  Indians,  and  shall  also  draw  the  fencing  into 
'place  for  them  and  allow  one  man  a  day  or  two  towards  the 
'setting  up  of  the  same.  And  either  sell  or  lend  them  tooles 
'to  finish  it,  provided  that  such  Indian  shall  fence  their  Corne 
'fields  or  ground  at  their  own  expense.  And  if  any  Indian 
'shall  refuse  to  fence  their  Corne  grounds  (being  tendered 
'help  as  aforesaid)  in  the  presence  and  hearing  of  sufficient 
'evidence,  they  shall  keep  off  all  cattle  or  loose  their  damage." 

"And  if  any  harme  be  done  at  any  time  by  the  Indians 
'unto  the  English  to  their  cattle,  the  governor  or  his  deputy 
'with  two  of  the  counsel,  or  any  court  of  sessions  or  assize, 
'may  order  satisfaction  according  to  law  and  justice." 

From  the  very  nature  of  things  the  Indian  could  not  sur- 
vive a  contest  on  lines  parallel  with  the  white  man.  He  was 
not  fitted  to  survive  such  an  ordeal. 

In  the  struggle  of  civilized  life  a  stored-up  energy,  or 
something  laid  up  for  a  rainy  day,  in  treasures,  capital  or 
other  available  assets,  may  bridge  the  possessor  over  a  period 


63 


of  dearth,  or  exempt  him  from  the  possibilities  of  sudden  and 
immediate  want.  The  individual  may  lose  his  employment, 
his  health  and  even  his  friends,  but  he  may  be  sustained  by  the 
storage  of  force,  at  least  to  span  or  cover  a  period  of  the 
reign  of  violence. 

The  Indian  civilization  made  but  a  weak  provision,  or 
none  at  all,  for  such  contingency,  not  enough  to  ensure  him  his 
next  meal.  He  consequently  deteriorated  rapidly  in  the  strug- 
gle with  the  provident  white  man,  and  a  few  years  reduced 
him  below  the  refuse  of  white  society. 

By  the  destruction  of  his  hunting  grounds  the  Indian  was 
deprived  of  his  means  of  support  under  his  system  and  en- 
forced upon  him  the  customs  of  a  civilization  which  he  de- 
spised. He  therefore  lapsed  instantly  into  mendicancy;  he  had 
not  the  flexibility  of  character  to  adapt  himself  to  the  new 
environment,  the  provident  methods  of  the  white  man,  and 
having  no  reservoir  of  stored-up  energy,  nothing  laid  up  to 
draw  upon  during  the  interim,  or  emergency — the  Inevitable 
resulted. 

In  the  government  of  the  tribes  each  tribe  held  sway 
over  a  territory  with  fixed  boundaries,  distinguished  by  a 
stream  or  trail;  sometimes  stones  were  set  up  marking  tribe 
boundaries.  When  at  peace  no  tribe  would  encroach  upon  the 
territory  of  another  with  any  but  friendly  intentions.  They 
would  not  pursue  animals  over  the  boundary.  Out  of  these 
well-defined  customs  and  laws  of  the  Indians  grew  a  vast 
amount  of  trouble  when  the  white  man  became  possessed  of 
the  territory  of  the  tribe.  We  showed  no  respect  for  the  In- 
dian custom.  There  is  no  doubt  much  trouble  could  have  been 
avoided  had  the  whites  recognized  native  rights  as  the  native 
saw  them.  The  Indian  could  not  enforce  his  rights;  he  sub- 
mitted to  force.  The  quotations  from  laws  on  a  former  page 
show  a  magnamlnous  effort  to  assist  the  Indian, — but  it  is  all 
White  Man. 

One  of  my  grandfathers   (a  public  man)  made  a  state- 

64 


ment  In  a  private  communication  concerning  the  Merikos  In- 
dian In  the  early  day  of  his  degeneracy,  In  1692: 

"He  Is  always,"  said  he,  ''under  your  feet  when  you  have 
''no  occasion  for  him,  and  never  to  be  found  when  wanted. 
"He  tills  little  patches  of  ground,  but  we  have  to  plough  them 
"for  him  and  lend  him  a  hoe  to  work  them,  and  then  he  will 
"go  to  sleep  and  let  the  squaw  do  it.  The  South  Side  Indians 
"are  too  worthless  to  live,  but  not  bad  enough  to  be  hanged." 

"One  day  when  the  thermometer  was  down  to  zero," 
said  my  grandfather,  "an  Indian  squatter  on  my  place  applied 
"for  an  armful  of  wood  to  keep  him  from  freezing.  I 
"pointed,"  said  my  grandfather,  "to  a  tree  and  told  him  to 
"cut  it  down  and  use  it  for  firewood.  The  Indian  said  he  had 
"no  axe.  I  lent  him  an  axe,  and  he  went  to  his  hut,  rolled  hlm- 
"self  up  in  his  blanket  and  laid  down,  choosing  rather  to  freeze 
"than  work." 

"The  Indian  youth,"  said  my  grandfather,  "although  of 
"full  blood  if  brought  up  in  white  neighborhoods,  is  an  im- 
"provement  on  the  old  evil.  Indian  boys  are  not  disliked  by 
"white  boys,  in  fact,  they  are  rather  favorites,  and  white  boys 
"were  more  frequently  found  defending  the  Indian  boy  than 
"one  of  their  own  blood.  They  frequently  married  into  white 
"families;  very  few  whites  married  squaws.  These  facts  are 
"attested  by  our  ancestors." 

You  could  not  satisfy  an  Indian  by  fair  and  generous 
treatment  because  he  did  not  know  what  generous  treatment 
was,  from  his  point  of  view;  we  looked  at  It  so  differently.  An 
Indian  captured  in  war  expected  torture  and  he  thought  you 
a  fool,  and  lost  all  respect  for  you,  if  you  released  him.  This 
Is  a  rule  to  which  there  are  many  noble  exceptions  of  record. 

When  the  Indian  exchanged  large  tracts  of  land  for  two 
or  three  old  flintlock  muskets,  two  pounds  of  powder  and  shot 
to  match,  an  old  broad-axe  and  two  gallons  of  rum,  a  mon- 
strously unfair  exchange,  but  he  went  away  rejoicing  at  the 
cupidity  of  the  white  man.  Bargains  of  this  kind,  however,, 
had  to  be  readjusted  sometimes. 

65 


In  the  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  New  York  in  1660  by 
Jasper  Bankers  and  Peter  Sluyter,  edited  and  translated  by 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Murphy,  there  is  a  careful  description  of  a 
house  of  the  Nyack  Indians  of  Long  Island.  This  was  a 
typical  residence  of  the  tribe  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  and 
which  corresponds  probably  very  closely  with  those  of  other 
parts  of  the  Island,  and  especially  with  Merikos. 

"We  went  from  hence,"  said  he  (Bankers),  **to  her  habi- 
**tation,  where  we  found  the  whole  troop  together,  consisting 
"of  seven  or  eight  families  and  twenty  to  twenty-five  persons, 
"we  should  think.  The  house  was  low  and  long,  about  sixty 
"feet  long  and  fourteen  or  fifteen  feet  wide.  The  bottom  was 
"earth,  the  sides  and  roof  were  made  of  reeds  and  the  bark 
"of  the  chestnut  tree,  and  were  sometimes  covered  with  mats. 
"The  posts  or  columns  were  trunks  of  trees  set  firmly  in  the 
"ground  and  all  fastened  together.  The  top  or  ridge  of  the 
"roof  was  open  about  half  a  foot  from  one  end  to  the  other  in 
"order  to  let  the  smoke  escape  in  the  place  of  a  chimney;  this 
"could  be  closed.  On  the  sides  or  walls  of  the  house  the  roof 
"was  so  low  that  you  could  hardly  stand  under  it.  The  en- 
"trances  or  doors  at  both  ends  were  small  and  low  so  that 
"they  had  to  stoop  down  and  squeeze  themselves  through. 
"The  doors  were  made  of  plaited  reeds  with  flat  bark.  In  the 
"whole  building  there  was  no  stone,  lime  or  iron.  They  build 
"their  fires  in  the  middle  of  the  room  on  a  platform  of  the 
"floor.  Each  family  has  its  own  apartment  with  separate  fire. 
"All  those  who  live  in  one  house  are  generally  of  one  stock  or 
"clan  or  descent.  The  interior  of  the  house  was  comparted 
"at  intervals  of  six  or  ten  feet,  leaving  each  chamber  entirely 
"open,  like  a  stall  upon  the  passageway  which  passed  through 
"the  center  of  the  house  from  end  to  end. 

"In  these  dwelling  or  wigwams  some  provisions  had  been 
"made  for  the  future;  they  contained  a  storeroom  for  nuts, 
"corn  and  other  provisions.  There  was  a  plentiful  supply  of 
"furs  upon  which  they  slept  at  night,  or  which  were  hung  up 
"as  a  lining  to  their  houses  to  make  them  warm. 

66 


**The  Indians  were  found  in  possession  of  many  of  the 
"useful  arts.  They  possessed  the  art  of  striking  fire,  of  mak- 
"ing  fish  nets,  of  making  the  bow  and  arrow  with  the  sinew- 
"string,  of  curing  and  tanning  skins,  of  making  wearing  ap- 
"parel,  moccasins,  of  making  rope  and  nets  from  filaments 
"of  bark,  of  finger  weaving  of  woof  and  warp,  of  canoe  mak- 
"ing  of  skins,  birch  bark  and  dug-outs,  building  lodges,  shap- 
"ing  stone  mauls,  hammers  and  chisels,  of  making  fish  spears 
"and  bone  hooks,  and  music  flute  and  drum." 

The  Long  Island  Indians  possessed  a  form  of  govern- 
ment and  clearly  defined  social  and  home  institutions  which 
seemed  to  regulate  their  domestic  affairs.  But  it  must  be  re- 
membered this  was  the  Indian  before  the  white  man  came; 
that  with  the  first  contact  with  the  white  man  degeneracy  and 
decay  began,  and  there  is  a  vast  difference  in  the  Long  Island 
Indian  in  his  native  state  and  the  Indian  as  we  know  him. 

As  to  their  religion,  we  believe  the  high  religious  sense 
which  it  is  said  existed  among  them  is  a  pure  fiction  of  the 
historian;  it  had  no  status.  At  revival  meetings  held  at  the 
south  side  at  Hick's  Neck  we  observed  that  among  the  people 
of  the  Neck  those  most  susceptible  of  religious  emotion  were 
those  who  were  suspected  of  being  of  Indian  descent,  and  that 
they,  with  few  exceptions,  lapsed  into  their  former  indifference 
when  the  pressure  was  removed.  As  far  as  they  reached,  if  it 
can  be  said  that  they  reached  in  religious  ethics  at  all,  was  a 
distinction  between  a  good  Indian  and  a  bad  Indian.  A  good 
Indian  was  one  true  to  his  friends,  who  served  his  tribe  faith- 
fully, supported  his  family  and  had  killed  many  enemies.  The 
reverse  constituted  a  bad  Indian.  No  future  reward  or  prom- 
ise of  future  reward  entered  into  the  religion  or  ethics  of  the 
good  Indian.  The  moral  idea  of  goodness  in  an  Algonkin 
was  faithfulness  to  his  chief  and  a  successful  warrior. 

One  of  the  greatest  superstitions  of  the  Indians  of  this 
part  of  Long  Island  was  their  veneration  for  the  Owl  and  the 
Hawk,  their  totems,  and  they  must  be  conciliated. 

If  the  great  White  Owl  should  alight  near  the  village,  of 

67 


an  evening,  and  hoot  loudly,  it  would  be  regarded  as  an  omen 
of  displeasure  and  the  Sachem  would  at  once  assemble  a  coun- 
cil of  head-men  and  determine  upon  a  proper  propitiatory 
offering.    He  must  be  placated  by  blood  or  wampum. 

But  the  Owl,  while  held  in  such  high  esteem  by  the  Al- 
gonkins,  was  held  in  great  abhorence  by  most  other  nations. 
As  early  as  the  age  of  the  Mahabhratta  and  Ramayanna  it  was 
an  evil  genius  with  the  Hindoos;  it  was  an  ill  omen  to  the 
Romans;  the  Latin  poets  show  great  prejudice  to  it;  Virgil 
calls  it  an  omen  of  mortality;  Lucan  stigmatizes  it;  Pliny  calls 
it  a  funeral  bird,  and  Shakespeare  calls  it  the  ominous  and 
fearful  bird  of  death.  The  Owl  takes  high  rank  with  all  the 
races  of  low  civilization  or  barbarous  peoples,  all  of  whom 
regard  it  as  a  symbol  of  great  wisdom,  while  the  more  civilized 
peoples  have  deserted  the  owl  and  accepted  the  goose,  who  is 
confessedly  an  animal  of  great  stupidity. 

When  the  Indian  mixed  and  intermixed  with  the  negro 
they  appear  to  have  become  extinct,  but  evidence  of  Indian 
blood  and  characteristics  are  still  distinctly  traceable  among 
the  white  inhabitants  of  the  Necks.  What  we  mean  by  char- 
acteristics is  complexion,  straight  hair,  high  cheek  bones,  and 
general  unthriftiness.  When  these  are  combined  in  the  indi- 
vidual it  is  pretty  certain  that  Indian  blood  prevails.  We  can 
enumerate  twenty  respectable  families  who  four  generations 
ago  one  side  ran  into  pure  Indian. 

The  aboriginal  American  of  Long  Island,  or  the  Ameri- 
can Indian,  before  his  contact  with  the  white  man  in  his  native 
state,  has  been  ill  understood  and  grossly  misrepresented.  He 
had  been  pictured  a  naked  savage,  cruel,  treacherous  and  re- 
vengeful, without  government  or  laws;  whereas  instead  of 
living  in  an  unorganized  state  where  each  man  is  a  law  unto 
himself,  these  people  lived  under  an  organized  government, 
rude  indeed,  but  essentially  advanced  above  the  conditions  at- 
tained by  the  savage  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Their  social 
system  was  very  ingenious  and  complex,  being  based  largely 
upon  kinship  ties,  and  was  well  fitted  for  the  state  they  had  at- 

68 


b 


talned.  They  had  made  some  considerable  advance  in  politi- 
cal confederations  for  defense  and  to  wage  war  against  a  com- 
mon enemy. 

The  great  outrages  said  to  have  been  committed  by  the 
Long  Island  Indians  were  almost  to  a  case  in  retaliation  for 
some  real  or  imaginary  outrages  said  to  have  been  committed 
upon  them  by  the  whites. 

The  Indians  of  the  south  shore  of  Hempstead  were  never 
really  hostile  to  the  white  settlers.  True,  they  sometimes  felt 
aggrieved  when  punished  by  the  courts  for  small  offenses,  but 
their  complaining  was  never  rebellious  and  did  not  disturb  the 
white  settlers  in  this  part  of  the  town.  Especially  were  the 
resident  Indians  of  the  Hooks  thorough  friends  of  the  Eng- 
lish and  fairly  good  faith  and  conduct  were  maintained  by 
both  in  their  dealings. 

It  was  the  neighboring  Indians  who  made  the  trouble  in 
trying  to  stir  up  insubordination.  The  Canarsie,  Maspeth, 
Flushing  and  the  Indians  on  the  north  side  were  the  principal 
aggressors  and  they  were  as  hostile  to  our  resident  Indians  as 
to  the  whites.  On  no  part  of  Long  Island  were  the  Indians 
more  fairly  treated  than  here,  and  there  are  rare  instances  of 
gross  unfairness. 

The  Indian  would  not  steal  unless  pinched  by  hunger,  at 
which  crisis  he  had  no  conception  of  it  being  wrong  to  help 
himself  out  of  anybody's  crib  or  smoke-house  when  hungry, 
and,  according  to  Indian  ethics,  it  was  no  wrong.  He  would 
help  himself  to  poultry,  sheep  and  pig  and  any  kind  of  vege- 
tables upon  which  he  could  lay  his  hands,  for  which  offense, 
under  our  laws,  it  was  necessary  to  punish  him,  but  he  always 
felt  that  he  was  wronged  when  punished  and  complained  bit- 
terly of  the  injustice,  but  he  was  never  known  to  complain  of 
being  cheated  out  of  his  hunting  grounds  (which  was  a  more 
grievous  wrong)  unless  put  up  to  it  by  some  white  man. 

The  Long  Island  tribes,  when  they  first  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  European,  had  long  passed  the  savage  state  and 
were  apparently  a  happy,  contented  people.    Each  tribe  had  its 

69 


own  Sachem,  raised  by  the  tribe  and  invested  by  them  with 
office,  and  his  realm  was  marked  by  well-defined  geographical 
limits.  They  were  agriculturists  and  village  dwellers,  and  they 
were  all  members  of  a  confederacy.  Not  only  was  this  an 
alliance  for  benefits  and  mutual  protection,  but  one  founded 
upon  consanguinity,  bond  of  kin. 

Their  Sachems  could  declare  war,  make  peace,  enter  into 
treaties  with  foreign  tribes,  receive  embassies,  etc.  They  met 
around  the  council  fire  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  in  settle- 
ment of  disputes,  or  dug  up  the  hatchet  in  declaration  of  war. 

All  the  civilized  races  on  earth  known  to  us  have  passed 
through  these  grades  on  their  upward  march*  to  civilization, 
except  the  Polynesians,  and  theirs  is  a  degeneracy.  The  aver- 
age status  of  the  American  Indian  under  his  native  half-civi- 
lized code  was  much  higher  than  the  white  man  under  his 
higher  civilization,  that  is  to  say,  he  lived  nearer  to  his  ideal 
than  the  white  man  did  to  his.  This  fact  is  borne  out  by  the 
investigations  and  testimony  of  learned  ethnological  scholars 
who  have  pursued  all  the  intricacies  of  aboriginal  character, 
that  from  his  own  standpoint,  and  that  standpoint  was  com- 
petent to  sustain  a  state  of  society  without  anarchy,  that  in- 
dividual rights  were  as  much  respected  as  they  were  under  our 
own  by  us.  The  Indian  believed  in  his  superiority,  and  he  had 
a  consciousness  that  he  was  no  less  honorable,  no  less  honest, 
no  less  brave,  no  less  moral  than  the  white  man,  and  much 
more  truthful;  for  all  of  this  the  white  man's  testimony  is  in. 

It  matters  not  what  the  code  of  laws  which  sustains  the 
social  and  political  conditions  of  a  community,  or  tribe,  or 
nation,  so  long  as  such  laws  sustain  them  It  is  entitled  to  re- 
spect. Hospitality  to  the  stranger  was  upheld  by  public  sen- 
timent with  the  Indian.  If  a  stranger  entered  an  Algonkin 
house,  food  was  immediately  set  before  him  (remember  that 
in  the  savage  state  food  was  the  great  concern  of  life),  to  re- 
fuse which  was  an  affront.  If  not  hungry  he  must  taste  and 
praise  Its  excellence.  This  custom  was  maintained  by  public 
sentiment  among  all  the  Long  Island  tribes. 

70 


At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America  these  social  in- 
stitutions possessed  a  vitality  difficult  for  the  white  man  to 
comprehend  in  a  race  of  savages.  But  the  Algonkins  were 
not  a  race  of  naked  savages;  on  the  contrary,  they  dressed 
well  in  winter  and  were  great  dandies  in  dress.  The  Long  Is- 
land Indian  was  a  picturesque  character  in  his  native  costume, 
which  was  far  from  unbecoming  to  him,  while  the  white  man's 
clothing  was  as  unbefitting  the  Indian  as  the  white  man's  civi- 
lization. 

Ownership  of  land,  the  soil,  the  fee,  or  right  to  convey, 
was  unknown  and  incomprehensible  to  the  Indian  of  Long  Is- 
land, but  he  could  under  his  law  reduce  unoccupied  lands  to 
possession  by  cultivation,  the  right  of  which  was  respected  and 
would  pass  by  inheritance.  The  Indian  was  never  brought  to 
comprehend  what  advantage  could  possibly  accrue  from  owner- 
ship in  land  (the  fee)  since  it  could  not  be  eaten  or  carried 
away,  and  from  his  knowledge  and  method  of  reasoning  it 
was  just  as  good  for  hunting  purposes  under  one  owner  as  an- 
other. And  retrospecting  the  bitter  litigation  we  have  had 
contingent  upon  these  relations  of  ownership  to  transitory 
game  which  is  attested  in  our  voluminous  reports,  proves  that 
we  were  further  from  a  settlement  of  this  question  of  personal 
rights  than  the  Indian.  His  rights  had  been  determined  by 
an  unwritten  code  which  by  years  of  application  had  become 
the  law  of  the  land,  better  defined  than  the  written  statutes 
of  our  commonwealth.  As  to  his  rights  in  game,  or  its  pursuit 
he  was  unlimited,  and  its  possession  constituted  perfect  owner- 
ship, over  which  there  could  be  no  dispute.  The  bear,  the 
deer,  the  salmon,  the  duck  and  all  other  wild  game  no  man  held 
ownership  in  until  captured;  ownership  was  not  determined 
by  territorial  limitations  of  metes  and  bounds,  and  so  long  as 
the  game  remained  free  upon  the  wing  it  was  its  own  owner, 
and  subject  to  the  same  laws  of  surprise  and  capture  as  he, 
the  Indian,  was.  The  Indian  maintained  that  his  right  to  fish, 
hunt  and  clam  was  co-equal  with  the  squirrel  to  the  nuts  on 
the  trees,  or  the  beasts  of  prey  to  their  victims  of  the  chase. 

71 


We  have  heretofore  referred  to  the  dress  of  the  Indian 
as  a  subject  of  no  little  ridicule  by  the  white  man,  but  no  Beau 
Brummel  was  ever  more  circumspect  in  the  style  and  make  of 
his  garments,  or  the  quality  of  feathers,  quality  and  quantity 
of  paint  and  grease  with  which  he  decorated  himself,  than  an 
Algonkin  brave  when  dressed  for  wiar,  or  for  the  conquest  of 
some  coquettish  squaw  of  a  neighboring  tribe.  The  purpose  of 
the  white  man  and  the  Indian  in  decorating  their  persons  was 
identical,  but  their  methods  differed  vastly;  but  from  the  point 
of  view  of  each  both  were  equally  ridiculous.  We  find  the 
same  desire  for  distinction  in  individuals  by  their  dress  exist- 
ing in  all  races,  and  the  same  desire  to  dress  richly  on  the  part 
of  those  possessing  wealth  or  station,  for  it  must  be  under- 
stood that  wealth  and  station  had  their  degrees  among  the 
rude  Algonkins  as  among  cultured  Europeans. 

In  winter  the  Long  Island  Indian  dressed  in  cured  skins 
made  soft  and  pliable  and  sometimes  ornamented  with  paint 
and  beads  made  from  shells.  They  sometimes  wore  a  mantle 
of  fur  decorated  with  feathers.  They  went  bareheaded,  their 
hair  trimmed  fantastically  and  thoroughly  stiffened  with  grease 
and  paint.  They  wore  leggins  of  dressed  deer  skins  and  boots 
of  leather.  To  this,  in  winter,  was  added  a  mantle  of  fur. 
The  women  wore  one  or  two  leather  skirts,  otherwise  they 
dressed  as  the  men.  In  summer  they  wore  little  clothing; 
children  went  naked. 

We  are  not  going  into  the  intricacies  of  political  or  so- 
cial life  of  the  Indian  to  show  how,  or  why,  things  were  done, 
but  simply  to  demonstrate  that  they  were  done. 

The  Algonkins  maintained  a  state  of  society  and  a  gov 
ernment  under  which  they  were  happy,  prosperous  and  mul- 
tiplied, without  prisons,  jails.  Bastilles  or  Bridewells. 

But  it  is  said  that  their  methods  for  the  enforcemeni 
of  law  were  summary,  brutal  and  cruel.  They  did  not  thin 
so,  but  believed  them  eminently  equitable  and  just.  There  was 
but  little  detail  in  Indian  justice.  No  one  believes  that  a 
pre-Columbian  Long  Islander  would  have  hesitated  a  mo- 

72 


i 


ment  if  permitted  to  select  between  immediate  death  and  one 
year  in  a  penitentiary.  The  true  Indian  scorned  a  life  which 
entailed  degradation  when  an  honorable  death  was  the  alter- 
nate. 

It  was  only  after  the  Indian  had  taken  degrees  in  our 
civilization  that  life  became  sweet  to  him  under  any  condi- 
tions. Taking  this  question  in  the  abstract,  leaving  out  all  de- 
tails and  definitions,  the  Indian  treated  crime  as  a  disease 
of  community  and  his  methods  were  to  eliminate  it.  Conse- 
quently all  crime  was  punishable  with  death;  then  the  cause 
was  removed.  We  compromise  with  it,  try  to  cure  it,  and 
adopt  a  graduated  scale  of  punishment  according  to  what  we 
consider  to  be  the  enormity  of  the  offense  (that  is,  as  it  ulti- 
mately affects  society) ,  but  the  cause  remains. 

Now,  if  naked  results  are  being  sought,  regardless  oi 
all  other  considerations,  the  Indian  was  undoubtedly  right. 
We  cannot  shield  ourselves  under  the  plea  of  inhumanity  of 
the  Indian  method,  for  in  that  respect  between  his  and  ours 
the  difference  is  one  only  of  degree.  A  death  penalty  is  in- 
human; so  is  one  year  in  the  penitentiary.  Many  a  grand 
larceny  has  affected  a  community  for  ill  more  than  some 
murders. 

This  reasoning  is  an  apology  for  the  Indian  under  his 
iron-clad  environment,  not  a  plea  for  the  adoption  of  the  In- 
dian method;  that,  whether  good  or  bad,  would  be  absolutely 
impossible  under  our  environment,  so  that  all  sentimentality 
is  wasted  in  considering  the  subject.  We  cannot  fence  in 
reservations  to  preserve  an  antiquated  civilization;  progress 
cannot  be  stayed  for  humanity's  sake  on  the  plea  of  sympathy; 
nature  is  remorseless,  unrelenting  and  aims  at  nothing  but  to 
glorify  the  future.    The  Indian  must  fill  the  bill,  or  perish. 

But  had  other  methods  been  pursued  with  the  Indian, 
more  humane  and  less  natural,  had  our  ancestors  utterly  ex- 
tinguished, instead  of  fanning,  that  remaining  spark  of  Puri- 
tanism brought  from  Europe,  had  they  sought  for  merit  and 
worth  in  manners  not  their  own,  in  the  social  and  political 

6  73 


system  of  a  people  who  lived  under  so  little  government — 
so  little  law — so  little  crime,  without  anarchy — without  jails, 
as  the  Long  Island  Indian,  had  they  adjusted  their  civilization 
to  an  Indian  code  of  morals,  results  might  have  been  differ- 
ent. Had  our  ancestors  taken  more  interest  in  this  people 
and  their  institutions  and  temporized  with  them,  results  might 
have  been  more  beneficial  to  white  man  and  Indian. 

It  is  well  known,  however,  that  all  efforts  to  civilize  the 
Indian  from  the  white  man's  standard  have  thus  far  aggre- 
gated in  failure,  and  in  all  the  instances  where  the  Indian  has 
accepted,  or  adopted,  our  habits,  customs  and  mode  of  living, 
he  had  lost  all  the  characteristics  for  which  he  was  admired  in 
his  wild  state.  The  white  man's  vices  were  placed  before  him 
in  a  more  attractive  form  than  his  virtues.  The  Indian  lived, 
fed,  clothed  and  housed  himself  from  those  materials  which 
came  readiest  to  hand  and  which  were  obtained  with  the  least 
exertion  on  his  part.  This  want  of  ambition,  or  ability  to 
contend  on  new  lines  familiar  to  the  white  man,  led  to  his 
decay  and  final  extinction,  or  absorption,  and  nothing  could 
save  him,  as  thousands  of  communities  of  civilized  white  men 
have  perished  under  a  reversal  of  conditions. 

The  Indian  men  are  hunters  and  warriors;  when  old, 
counsellors,  for  all  their  government  is  by  counsel  of  the  sages. 
There  is  no  force;  there  are  no  prisons,  or  officers,  to  compel 
obedience  or  inflict  punishment.  The  Indian  women  till  the 
ground,  dress  the  food,  nurse  and  bring  up  the  children  and 
preserve  and  hand  down  to  posterity  the  memory  of  public 
transactions.  The  employments  of  the  men  and  women  are 
accounted  natural  and  honorable. 

The  full-blooded  Indian,  even  when  he  has  fully  adopted 
our  customs  and  mode  of  life,  seldom  becomes  a  valuable  or 
desirable  member  of  society.  There  are  noble  exceptions. 
The  half-breeds  were  very  much  better  than  the  full-bloods. 
There  are  many  respectable  families  of  Coe's  Neck  and  Hick's 
Neck  and  vicinity  who  can  boast  aboriginal  blood. 

In  our  youth  an  old  Indian,  probably  of  the  Merikos 

74 


tribe,  dwelt  on  my  father's  farm.  He  was  a  squatter.  His 
dwelling  was  a  miserable  device  for  a  house;  it  had  but  one 
room  and  a  wretched  garret.  It  was  located  in  a  clump  of 
dense  cedar  trees.  The  only  evidence  of  civilization  about 
the  place  was  a  large  pear  tree  in  front  of  the  hut,  which 
came  there  by  accident.  In  this  miserable  place  he  lived  with 
his  wife,  a  white  woman,  less  ambitious,  if  possible,  than  him- 
self. To  her  credit,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  she  would 
work.  She  did  washing  and  cleaning  for  the  neighborhood. 
This  old  Indian  belonged  to  a  past  generation;  he  wore 
fringed  leggins  and  a  coon-skin  cap.  He  was  known  by  the 
name  of  Tom;  he  had  never  had  any  other  name,  and  he  did 
not  really  require  it.  He  was  utterly  indifferent  about  it  him- 
self; he  had  never  been  baptized,  could  not  write,  had  never 
owned  any  real  estate,  paid  no  taxes,  so  altogether,  another 
name  would  have  been  wasted  on  him,  as  no  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory. 

There  was  plenty  of  good  land  surrounding  Tom's  hut 
which  he  could  have  had  to  cultivate  for  the  asking,  rent  free, 
but  he  preferred  his  miserable  hand-to-mouth  method  of  living 
to  that  of  respectably  earning  it.  There  was  no  such  thing  as 
thrift  in  the  Indian  code,  and  no  such  sentiment  as  earning  a 
living  in  his  philosophy.  Thrift  was  the  exception,  for 
wherever  the  Indian  blood  prevailed  unthriftiness  prevailed. 

They  improved  generation  after  generation  as  the  blood 
became  diluted,  but  it  was  constant  in  proportion  to  its  purity, 
and  would  crop  out  at  intervals  amongst  the  most  thrifty. 
There  were,  however,  noble  exceptions  to  this  general  rule. 
There  were  thrifty,  respectable  families  of  nearly  pure  Indian 
blood. 

Tom  was  not  a  drunkard,  but  he  indulged  in  more  than 
was  good  for  him  of  firewater.  Now,  with  all  that  has  been 
said  of  Tom,  he  was  an  honorable  man,  a  sympathetic,  kind 
man,  always  ready  to  do  a  favor,  and  when  done  as  a  favor 
would  scorn  compensation;  in  fact,  possessed  qualities  which 
would  have  been  ornamental  to  many  men  in  higher  stations. 

75 


Tom  was  of  royal  blood,  being,  as  he  claimed,  a  relation  of 
the  Sachem  Wantagh  of  the  Merikos,  and  thus  lived  and 
died  this  prince  of  the  royal  house  of  Wantagh. 

Tom  had  a  son  who  had  followed  the  bay  from  child- 
hood during  the  summer,  and  he  went  to  school  in  winter  at 
the  district  school  at  Raynortown,  where  he  reached  the  at- 
tainments of  reading  and  writing.  His  Christian  name  was 
James  and  he  went  by  the  name  of  Jim  Tom.  He  grew  up 
perfectly  familiar  with  boats  and  boating  in  the  bay,  and  final- 
ly became  the  captain  of  a  packet  sloop  belonging  to  my  uncle 
running  from  here  to  New  Brunswick.  He  was  a  trusty  man 
and  rendered  valuable  service  to  my  uncle,  in  whose  service  he 
remained  many  years.  He  married  a  white  woman  from 
Patchogue  and  moved  to  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  where 
he  reared  quite  a  family  by  the  name  of  Tom,  some  of  whom 
we  have  been  informed  attained  to  positions  of  prominence 
and  respectability  and  acquired  considerable  means.  Our 
knowledge  of  James  Tom  ceased  when  he  moved  away.  We 
can,  therefore,  say  nothing  positive  about  the  advancement 
of  the  family,  but  there  is  no  doubt  about  it,  James  Tom  was 
a  great  improvement  on  his  father.  We  remember  James 
Tom  very  well;  he  was  a  typical  half-breed,  with  strong  In- 
dian characteristics.  He  was  indolent,  but  he  had  some  white 
pride  in  him,  which  would  sometimes  assert  itself  and  he 
could  not  reconcile  himself  to  his  father's  savage  mode  of 
life.    Unlike  his  father,  he  did  not  indulge  in  drink. 

"The  Long  Island  Indians  in  their  present  degraded 
condition,"  says  Benjamin  Tredwell  in  a  letter  to  the  Governor 
of  Connecticut  in  1747,  "wear  but  little  clothing,  and  that  of 
the  coarsest  and  commonest  kind.  Their  dwellings  are  of  no 
general  structure,  anything  that  can  afford  them  shelter.  This, 
however,  like  most  other  customs,  is  not  true  of  all  of  the 
resident  Indians.  Some  of  them  who  reside  in  or  near  com- 
munities of  the  English  permanently  on  little  pieces  of  ground, 
which  they  own  and  cultivate,  occupy  neat  little  cottages,  and 

76 


» 


an  air  of  thrift  and  cleanliness  surrounds  them."    All  of  this, 
however,  is  in  great  contrast  with  the  average  Indian. 
Thursday,  September  26,    1839. 

All  the  aboriginal  inhabitant  Indians  and  their  descendants  of  the 
south  side  of  Long  Island  were  familiar  with  the  sea  and  skilled  in  the 
management  of  boats.  John  Winthrop  testifies  that  there  were  canoes 
on  the  waters  of  Long  Island  that  could  carry  eighty  persons.  My 
grandfather  said,  and  it  is  borne  out  by  tradition,  that  a  great  many  of 
these  Indians  occupied  in  summer  the  west  side  of  Milburn  Creek, 
south  of  Lott's  and  Bedell's  Landing,  and  that  there  also  was  a  per- 
manent settlement  there  and  that  the  great  shell  mounds  at  these  places 
were  the  result  of  extensive  wampum  manufactories  before  the  innova- 
tion of  the  vi^hite  man  (1658).  The  most  extensive  shell  heaps  in 
the  country  are  to  be  found  in  this  neighborhood  and  but  little  doubt 
remains  that  a  great  deal  of  wampum  was  manufactured  on  the  south 
side  of  Long  Island.  A  tribute  of  sixty  fathoms  was  once  imposed  upon 
this  people. 

Wampum  was  introduced  into  New  England  in  1641, 
and  in  1673  it  had  become  the  circulating  medium  everywhere 
east  of  the  Mississippi.  The  superior  quality  of  that  manu- 
factured on  the  south  side  of  Long  Island  and  between  Rock- 
away  and  Patchogue  was  so  marked  as  to  be  noted  in  Win- 
throp's  Journal.  The  purple  was  twice  the  value  of  the  white 
wampum.  In  1641  a  city  ordinance  of  the  Director  General 
Keift  deplores  the  depreciation  of  this  primitive  currency.  "A 
great  deal  of  bad  seawant,  nasty,  rough  things  imported  from 
other  places,  was  In  circulation,  while  the  good,  splendid  sea- 
want  was  out  of  sight,  or  exported,  which  must  cause  the  ruin 
of  the  country." 

Wampum  was  made  on  Long  Island  for  exportation  as 
late  as  1830.  There  were  many  inferior  kinds.  In  later 
times  the  manufacture  was  taken  up  by  speculators,  who  made 
it  by  machinery.  This  soon  occasioned  its  depreciation  and 
it  passed  out  of  general  use,  but  will  ever  remain  a  curiosity 
and  a  memorial  of  the  aborigines. 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  future  investigations,  it 
Is  pretty  conclusively  established  that  the  head  center  for  the 
production  of  wampum  was  Long  Island,  and  probably  the 
Algonkin  was  the  originator,  the  name  being  in  the  Algonkin 

77 


language,  viz.,  Wampumpeag;  the  Dutch  called  it  seawant. 
The  literature  of  wampum  would  fill  a  volume. 

The  great  body  of  historical  evidence  goes  to  show  that 
currency  in  shells  was  in  use  among  the  Atlantic  coast  tribes 
when  first  encountered  by  the  white  man.  Thomas  Morton 
says:  "The  Indians  of  New  England  back  in  1630  had  a 
kind  of  shell  in  strings  which  they  used  instead  of  money.  It 
was  of  different  values  and  of  different  colors.  But  it  had 
other  uses  than  money.  The  wampum  belts  are  the  most  in- 
teresting wampum  productions,  and  the  importance  they  held 
in  great  and  ceremonial  assemblies  is  extremely  interesting.'* 

There  seems,  as  before  stated,  but  little  doubt  that  Long 
Island  was  the  principal  locality  from  which  the  shells  were 
gathered  of  which  wampum  was  made,  and  that  the  vast  shell 
heaps  which  we  have  referred  to  were  the  refuse  of  the  wam- 
pum industry.  It  is  impossible  from  any  known  records  or 
traditions  to  demonstrate  an  approximate  antiquity  for  the 
use  of  wampum  among  the  Algonkin  tribes.  It  is  not  prob- 
able, however,  that  a  custom  so  unique  and  so  general  could 
have  grown  up  within  the  historic  period,  nor  is  it  probable 
that  a  practice  foreign  to  the  genius  of  a  tradition-loving  race 
could  have  become  so  well  established  and  so  dear  to  their 
hearts  in  a  few  generations,  and  yet  it  has  no  tradition. 

The  Mayas  of  Central  America  were  ages  in  developing 
the  phonetic  system  of  their  pseud  alphabet.  The  Mexicans 
had  an  ancient  system  of  picture  writing.  The  Peruvians  and 
the  Chinese  had  a  system  of  knotted  cords  known  as  quipos 
(with  the  Peruvians),  and  the  Algonkins  had  their  wampum, 
all  of  which  were  more  or  less  imperfect  and  distinct  methods 
of  recording  events,  or  of  rendering  them  permanent. 

The  distinction  to  be  made  between  string  wampum  and 
wampum  belts  is  that  a  belt  is  composed  of  a  number  of  strings. 
Both  the  string  and  belt  wampum  were  used  for  personal  dec- 
oration of  male  and  female.  The  belt  wampum  was  also 
used  to  assist  the  memory  and  in  recording  events,  and  both 

78 


ware  also  used  as  money,  with  a  fairly  well  established  value 
as  compared  with  other  standards. 

All  of  this  is  demonstrated,  for  we  find  it  named  hun- 
dreds of  times  as  consideration  in  whole  or  in  part  in  the  pur- 
chase of  real  estate,  and  in  other  transactions  between  the 
English,  Dutch  and  Indian. 

There  were  many  things  which  the  Indians  in  their  prim- 
itive state  might  have  used  to  represent  values,  and  we  can 
only  account  for  the  use  of  beads  on  the  theory  of  their  in- 
trinsic value.  John  Jacob  Astor  is  said  to  have  carried  tons 
of  wampum  west  with  him  for  traffic  with  the  natives  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  (Furman's  Antiquities). 

From  all  that  is  known  upon  this  subject  the  inference 
is  that  up  to,  or  nearly  up  to,  my  great-grandfather's  time,  or 
about  one  hundred  and  eighty  years  ago,  those  shell  heaps 
were  still  in  process  of  formation,  which  may  in  some  respects 
throw  doubts  upon  the  great  antiquity  claimed  for  them;  but 
in  exploring  them  one  is  struck  with  the  evidence  of  great  age 
of  the  lower  strata  of  the  shells  and  the  vast  period  of  time 
which  must  have  elapsed  between  the  first  or  bottom  stratum 
and  the  last  deposit. 

It  has  been  held  and  believed  by  many  observing  resi- 
dents of  the  place  that  a  large  Indian  village  or  settlement 
once  existed  at  or  near  this  location  of  the  shell  heap  on  our 
farm.  This  was  my  father's  notion,  hypothecated  upon  the 
fact  that  here  was  a  tract  of  ground  consisting  of  many  acres 
which  had  been  deforested  in  very  early  times;  the  existence 
of  so  many  spots  of  burnt  earth  which  he  thought  might  have 
been  fireplaces;  then  the  finding  of  charred  wood,  and  the 
generally  prevailing  tradition  that  the  natives  had  a  large 
settlement  at  or  near  this  spot;  but  we  know  of  no  graves  or 
burial  places,  so  necessary  an  accessory  to  a  compact  com- 
munity; no  bones  or  skeletons  were  found  in  the  immediate 
vicinity.  More  recently,  in  1869,  we  explored  the  mound  and 
from  it  and  other  sources  obtained  a  few  unimportant  relics, 
all  of  which  have  been  deposited  in  public  institutions. 

79 


The  material  generally  of  the  spear  and  arrowheads  was 
of  flint  and  quartz  (pebbles),  such  as  occur  at  various  lo- 
calities on  Long  Island,  as  at  Flatbush,  Glen  Cove,  Westbury, 
Bay  Ridge  and  Montauk  Point,  in  the  Glacial  Drift.  Some 
of  them  have  been  made  of  quartz-rock,  such  as  is  found  in 
sites  on  Manhattan  Island;  the  axes  and  hammers  were  made 
of  various  kinds  of  sandstone.  At  the  period  of  these  finds 
ethnology  was  just  becoming  a  classified  science  in  this  country, 
and  geology  was  beginning  to  assume  a  recognized  position 
in  physical  science. 

On  digging  near  the  center  of  the  mound  the  deeper  we 
went  the  more  decayed  and  friable  became  the  shells.  Small 
pieces  of  bone,  not  identified,  were  also  found,  with,  however, 
no  evidence  of  the  handiwork  of  man  appearing,  and  at  the 
depth  of  two  and  a  half  feet  the  shells  ceased  altogether. 
They  rested  upon  a  hard  gravel  resembling  that  in  other  parts 
of  the  field,  except  that  the  gravel  was  black,  being  stained 
by  the  decayed  animal  matter.  We  confirmed  the  statement 
of  my  father  that  none  of  the  shells  had  been  designedly 
broken  and  that  it  was,  consequently,  not  a  wampum  manufac- 
tory. The  mound  showed  stratification,  or  intervening  layers 
of  soil.  This  no  doubt  came  from  not  using  the  same  spot 
consecutive  years.  So  firm  and  compact  were  the  shells  that 
the  digging  with  a  spade  was  extremely  difficult. 


80 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Geology  of  Long  Island.— Sheep  Parting.— Ancient  Laws  in  Regard  to 

Sheep  Herding. 

Thursday,  September  29,  1839. 

iF  it  be  true,  as  stated  by  Dr.  Gale  in  his  Geological  Lec- 
ture (in  1838)  on  the  Ice  Age,  of  the  vast  effect  of  the 
glacial  epoch — epoch  of  ice — upon  the  topography  of  the 
^1^:^^^^  earth,  and  especially  upon  the  contour  and  altitude  of 
Long  Island,  then  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  familiarize 
ourself  with  the  subject,  because  it  seems  to  us  that  the 
theory  of  Dr.  Gale,  if  applied  to  territory  upon  which  we  are  engaged, 
might  throw  a  vast  amount  of  light  upon  some  heretofore  unexplained 
effects,  the  cause  of  which  to  the  present  is  a  profound  mystery.  In 
due  time  we  shall  look  into  the  new  science  of  glacial  action  and  apply 
it  to  our  little  territory  of  Long  Island;  there  is  apparently  so  much 
good  sound  common  sense  in  Dr.  Gale's  reasoning  upon  the  new  ice 
theory,  and  that  to  the  glacial  activity  may  be  charged  many  of  the 
incongruities  of  the  surface  of  Long  Island. 

The  glacial  theory  solves  many  problems  mysterious  to 
us  when  a  boy.  The  brook  which  ran  through  the  farm, 
upon  the  banks  of  which  was  located  the  shell  heaps  hereto- 
fore referred  to,  had  evidently  once  been  a  stream  of  con- 
siderable volume,  for  since  our  childhood  it  has  much 
shrunken,  the  far  greater  portion  of  its  ancient  bed  being 
absolutely  dry.  We  have  traced  the  stream  to  its  ancient 
source,  the  base  of  the  hills  traversing  the  length  of  Long 
Island,  and  which  are  the  terminal  moraine  of  the  glacial 
age.  The  course  and  ancient  bed  of  the  stream  can  be  traced 
with  as  great  certainty  as  if  the  water  was  still  flowing  through 
its  channel.  The  erosion  by  the  current  having  been  very  great 
had  worn  the  earth  away  to  a  depth  of  ten  feet  and  had  left 
gently  sloping  banks  composed  entirely  of  glacial  drift  on 
either  side.  There  are  also  bottom  lands  evidently  once 
covered  by  water,  the  accumulations  of  vegetable  matter  on 
these   bottoms    record   the   natural   history   of   the   territory 

81 


through  which  the  stream  ran.  There  is  no  essential  differ- 
ence In  the  character  of  the  work  of  erosion  done  by  this 
little  stream,  except  in  magnitude,  and  the  great  Mississippi. 
All  the  characteristics  which  mark  the  lake  basins  and  ice 
dams  of  the  great  lakjes  of  the  Northwest  we  find,  in  minia- 
ture, and  all  the  features  which  mark  the  Algonkin  beach  of 
Lake  Huron  are  here. 

Near  the  shell  heap  or  at  the  point  heretofore  desig- 
nated as  head  of  canoe  navigation,  and  three  or  four  hun- 
dred feet  distant  up  the  stream  to  the  eastward,  the  stream 
passes  between  two  considerable  elevations  about  two  hundred 
feet  apart.  These  hills  in  early  times  were  connected  and 
continuous  across  the  stream  and  formed  what  is  known  as 
a  glacial  dam;  a  lake  about  a  mile  long  was  formed  above 
the  dam;  Its  shore  lines  are  still  distinctly  traceable.  For 
some  cause  this  dam  gave  way  and  emptied  the  lake,  and 
the  material  which  formed  the  dam  was  carried  down  with 
the  flood  and  deposited,  and  can  be  positively  identified,  about 
three  hundred  yards  down  the  stream. 

The  drying  up  of  this  and  other  streams  on  Long  Island 
presents  to  us  a  vast  field  for  research  and  speculation.  It 
would  seem  that  the  drying  of  these  streams  was  caused  by  a 
gradual  rising  of  the  land,  but  there  is  abundant  evidence 
that  around  the  margins  of  Long  Island,  especially  the  south 
shore,  the  land  is  sinking.  These  lands  were  anciently  covered 
with  forests,  all  of  which  have  long  since  disappeared,  mostly 
through  the  Instrumentality  of  man,  some  by  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  sea,  the  remains  of  the  last  named  forest  can 
now.  In  many  places,  be  seen  under  the  overflowing  waters. 

That  such  movements  are  taking  place  on  our  earth  has 
been  demonstrated  by  Lyell.  And  Professor  Hitchcock  has 
shown  that  subsidence  Is  taking  place  on  Long  Island,  Nan- 
tucket, Martha's  Vineyard  and  Cape  Cod,  in  his  geology  of 
Massachusetts. 

The  drying  up  of  the  stream  may  have  resulted  from 
one  of  two  causes,  the  clearing  away  of  the  forests  and  land 

82 


cultivation,  or  upheaval  of  the  land.  The  latter  of  which  does 
not  seem  to  be  soluble  upon  this  immediate  territory,  we 
mean  the  question  of  subsidence,  or  upheaval,  we  must  con- 
sequently try  issues  elsewhere. 

Since  the  last  mentioned  period,  the  glacial,  the  old 
Atlantic  has  persistently  contested  her  sovereignty  over  the 
territory  of  Long  Island;  slowly  but  surely  she  is  winning  it 
back,  and  the  time  will  come  when  she  will  again  command 
to  the  base  of  the  hills  where  she  reigned  280,000  years  ago. 

In  geological  time  this  period  is  not  far  remote.  As  an 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  what  we  have  just  said,  we  have 
only  to  observe  the  insinuating  progress  of  the  south  beach 
upon  the  bays  and  marshes  skirting  the  southerly  rim  of  the 
upland  of  Long  Island.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  find 
a  mass  of  marsh  out  in  the  very  breakers  half  a  mile  from 
any  other  marsh  land,  which  has,  so  to  speak,  passed  under 
the  ridge  of  beach  hills  and  is  now  breaking  up  on  the  ocean 
side.  These  changes  which  have  and  are  now  taking  place 
on  the  Hempstead  Beach,  near  or  in  the  vicinity  of  what  was 
formerly  known  as  New  Inlet,  have  been  enormous.  All  the 
openings  or  inlets  through  the  beach  are  gradually  working 
their  way  w^estward,  while  the  general  tendency  of  the  beach 
or  strand  is  inland,  and  in  some  places  it  moves  quite  rapidly, 
and  hills  now  cover  marsh  lands  from  which  men  now  living 
have  harvested  hay. 

New  Inlet,  where  the  channel  was  formerly  sixty  feet 
deep,  is  now  entirely  closed,  and  sand  dunes,  thirty  feet  high, 
occupy  the  site.  A  thousand  acres  of  flats  once  spread  out 
in  front  of  White  Hill,  on  the  south  side  of  the  east  channel 
or  run.  These  flats  were  formerly  famous  soft-shell  clamming 
grounds.  Many  barrels  of  clams  were  taken  from  there  at 
every  low  water.  The  flats  were  covered  at  high  water,  and 
they,  with  the  hills  bordering  upon  the  ocean  on  the  south, 
are  now  entirely  washed  away  and  a  considerable  depth  of 
water  exists  there. 

Our  first  recollection  of  New  Inlet   (so  called  because 

83 


it  had  newly  broken  through  the  sand  hills)  was  when  it  was 
in  direct  continuation  of  Swift  Creek.  It  has  worked  west- 
ward to  the  White  Hills  and  then  it  still  continued  westward 
until  opposite  Sea  Dog  Creek  (so  named  from  the  sea  dogs 
taken  there  in  early  times).  The  current  of  the  flood  tides 
from  the  ocean  was  very  rapid  and  it  dredged  this  creek  out 
to  a  great  depth,  and  also  widened  it,  and  Sea  Dog  Creek 
became  the  principal  outlet  to  the  ocean,  as  Swift  Creek, 
about  one  mile  easterly,  and  White  Hill  or  Long  Creek  had 
formerly  been.  These  localities  were  also  famous  fishing 
centers,  the  deep  water  making  them  the  resort  of  many 
varieties  of  fish.  Sea  Dog  Creek  was  famous  for  kingfish 
and  weakfish.  Swift  Creek  was  noted  for  sheepshead,  striped 
bass,  blackfish,  black-bass  and  porgies;  many  other  varieties 
were  taken  in  these  and  other  localities.  Long  Creek  had 
many  fine  fishing  grounds.  Scow  Creek  was  noted  for  its 
flounders.  Probably  no  locality  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the 
United  States  was  stocked  so  abundantly  and  with  such 
variety  of  molluscs,  crustaceans,  vertebrates  and  invertebrates 
of  the  sea  as  this  immediate  portion  of  the  Great  South  Bay 
of  Hempstead,  Long  Island. 

The  portion  of  Long  Island  under  consideration  pos- 
sessed a  large  aboriginal  population,  on  the  basis  of  savage 
populations  scientifically  estimated,  i.  e.,  means  of  subsistence. 

The  necessaries  of  life  were  here  produced  in  abundance 
and  there  was  no  region  where  subsistence  was  more  easily 
procured.  In  all  such  localities  the  largest  development  of 
population  would  naturally  be  found. 

The  hunt  or  chase  is  an  uncertain  and  precarious  means 
of  maintenance,  and  for  many  reasons  the  supply  is  some- 
times cut  off;  the  food  supply  for  game  may  be  scarce,  in 
which  event  it  seeks  other  fields.  Concerning  the  supply  of 
fish,  molluscs  and  crustaceans,  however,  it  is  quite  different; 
the  bay  and  ocean  nursery  is  always  profuse  and  unlimited. 

The  herding  of  the  barbarian  in  early  times  on  the  necks 
of  land  jutting  into  the  bay  had  its  counterpart  in  the  rush 

84 


1 


of  the  white  emigrant  for  these  localities;  they  immediately 
invaded  these  territories.  Rockaway,  Hick's  Neck,  Coe's 
Neck,  Raynor's  Neck,  and  all  along  the  south  side  to  the 
Hamptons  were  filled  up  long  before  a  foot  of  the  interior 
or  territory  between  what  is  now  the  south  road  and  Hemp- 
stead, or  Middle  Island,  was  occupied  by  settlers.  The  obvi- 
ous reason  was  the  same  which  concentrated  the  Indian  popu- 
lation there,  the  ease  with  which  the  means  of  subsistence 
could  be  obtained  from  the  bay  during  the  tedious  period  of 
clearing  up  the  forests  and  bringing  the  soil  to  a  condition  to 
remunerate  their  labor,  and  the  country  supported  a  vastly 
greater  population  of  civilized  men  than  savages.  Their 
Improved  methods  of  agriculture,  use  of  firearms  and  the 
metals,  gave  civilized  man  a  vast  advantage  over  the  savage. 

Returning  to  the  old  diary,  the  entries  followed  pretty 
regularly  from  the  last  entry  down  to  the  present,  consisting, 
however,  mostly  in  reference  to  books  we  had  read,  with 
extracts  and  comments  preserved  to  aid  the  memory.  The 
storehouse  of  books  from  which  we  drew  were  limited  almost 
exclusively  to  "Harper's  Family  Library,"  kept  in  the  district 
library  at  Raynortown,  Willet  Charlick  being  the  librarian. 
Mr.  Charlick  was  indefatigable,  and  we  may  enter  a  tribute 
to  his  memory.  In  his  efforts  in  getting  books  and  placing  them 
in  the  hands  of  the  young  people  of  the  district  to  create  a 
love  for  reading. 

Friday,  October  20,  1839. 

The  historical  literature  of  Long  Island  has  a  narrow  range,  limited 
to  a  few  books  only.  Silas  Wood's  Sketch  of  the  First  Settlements 
Upon  Long  Islandj  and  Benjamin  F.  Thompson's  History  of  Long 
Island,  An  Account  of  the  Discovery  and  Settlement,  etc.,  to  the  Pres- 
ent Time,  is  the  list  of  books  at  our  command  upon  the  subject.  The 
former  was  published  in  1828  and  the  latter  has  just  been  issued,  1839. 

These  two  works  cover  important  fields  in  the  history  of  Long 
Island,  but  are  vastly  wanting  in  that  interesting  and  gossippy  detail 
which  is  the  charm  of  local  history  and  which  is  to  be  gathered  only 
when  there  is  a  profuse  literature  to  draw  from  in  oral  legend  or  printed 
records.  These  works,  considering  the  limited  amount  of  material  to 
which  their  authors  had  access,  are  marvels  of  reliable  information. 

85 


We  have  also  some  historical  sermons  and  orations  useful  in  their 
way,  but  too  special  to  be  available  to  the  historian.  We  also  have 
Furmans  Notes,  published  in  1824,  but  they  relate  chiefly  to  Kings 
County  and  Brooklyn.  The  above  works  have  begotten  a  thirst  in  us 
for  more  of  the  details  of  Long  Island  history,  to  obtain  which  involves 
laborious  research  amongst  the  town  and  county  records  and  appeals  to 
private  papers  and  documents  and  to  the  unwritten  traditions  and  leg- 
ends with  the  experiences  of  the  oldest  citizens. 

All  these  sources  must  be  exhausted,  and  Thompson  in  his  pioneer 
work  has  given  satisfaction  and  laid  out  the  field  for  his  more  elaborate 
successor. 

Tuesday,  October  15,  1839. 

Went  with  father  this  day  to  the  sheep  parting  to  bring  home  our 
sheep  that  had  been  turned  out  on  the  plains  last  spring. 

The  Hempstead  Plains  is  one  of  the  most  marked  features  of  Long 
Island.  This  tract  of  territory,  being  sixteen  miles  in  length  and  con- 
taining sixty-four  square  miles,  has  a  prairie-like  appearance,  and  it  is 
the  common  pasturage  ground  for  the  town  of  Hempstead.  By  a 
strange  misconception  the  soil  was  deemed  by  the  early  settlers  too 
poor  for  cultivation,  and  yet  the  secretary  grass  grew  in  some  places  to 
the  height  of  four  feet.  In  1670  Daniel  Denton  says:  "There  is  neither 
stick  nor  stone,  and  it  produces  very  fine  grass,  which  makes  excellent 
good  fodder  for  winter,  but  it  is  more  especially  valuable  for  pasturage." 

Sheep  raising  was  followed  from  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
town  of  Hempstead.  The  sheep  were  branded  or  marked  and  pas- 
tured in  common  upon  the  Great  Plains.  This  common  pasturage  was 
carefully  guarded,  as  shown  by  an  act  of  June  17,  1726: 

"To  prevent  the  setting  on  fire  or  burning  the  old  grass  on  Hemp- 
"stead  Plains,  done  by  certain  persons  for  the  gratification  of  their  own 
"wanton  temper  and  humors,  an  act  was  passed  and  a  committee 
"appointed  to  take  charge  of  this  matter  and  with  power  to  arrest  all 
"persons  whom  they  suspected  of  mischief.  Captain  John  Tredwell, 
"Mr.  James  Jackson,  Mr.  William  Cornwell,  Nathaniel  Seaman, 
"Benjamin  Seaman,  Obadiah  Valentine,  Thomas  Williams,  Peter  Titus, 
"Henry  Willis,  John  Pratt,  Caleb  Carman,  Nathaniel  Townsend,  John 
"Tredwell,  Jeremiah  Robbins,  Thomas  Powell,  Samuel  Jackson, 
"Thomas  Seaman  and  John  Mott  were  appointed  such  committee  to 
"enforce  the  law  against  transgressors." 

The  sheep  parting  was  a  very  simple  institution  on  its  first  intro- 
duction in  this  country.  But  on  Long  Island,  in  consequence  of  the 
great  interest  taken  in  stock,  it  became  a  great  public  doing.* 

*Att  a  general  Town  meeting,  3d  day  of  April,  1733.  It  was  by  unani- 
mous Voate  agreed  and  determined  by  the  freeholders  of  ye  Sd  Township  that 
all  sheep  belonging  to  them  shall  run  at  larg  on  the  plaines  without  molestation 
and  have  free  access  to  all  the  commons,  and  that  if  any  parson  or  parsons 
Shall  at  any  time  drive  the  said  sheep  so  as  to  fold  or  to  pen,  or  Shall  by  wais 

86 


'  Sheep  were  not  introduced  In  the  town  as  early  as  cattle. 
In  1643  there  were  not  over  sixteen  sheep  in  the  whole  colony 
of  New  York.  They  were  fed  on  the  great  plains  under  the 
care  of  a  shepherd,  whose  directions  were  not  to  let  them 
go  over  half  a  mile  in  the  woods  for  fear  of  being  lost,  or 
destroyed  by  wolves.  No  one  was  allowed  to  take  away  any, 
even  his  own  sheep,  from  the  common  flock,  or  kill  it  but  in 
the  presence  of  two  witnesses. 

Every  owner  had  an  earmark  for  his  sheep,  which  was 
recorded  in  the  town  books.  These  marks  were  bought  and 
sold;  ingenuity  was  exhausted  in  devising  new  ones.  There 
were  sheep  stealers  who  have  been  known  to  alter  these 
marks.  In  the  fall  the  sheep  were  pounded  by  the  pounders 
into  pens  agreed  upon  at  the  town  meeting.  In  1710  the 
pens  were  at  Isaac  Smith's,  at  Herrick's,  at  another  time  at 
Success,  perhaps  by  reason  of  the  convenience  of  having  water 
at  hand.  After  the  sheep  had  been  pastured  on  the  plains 
during  the  summer,  on  an  appointed  day  in  October  or 
November,  the  owners  met  for  the  parting. 

On  April  1,  1845,  the  town  meeting  appointed  the  last 
Monday  in  October  for  sheep  parting.  The  sheep  tenders 
severally  arose  early  on  that  day  and  commenced  driving  in 
the  sheep  from  the  outskirts  of  the  plains  to  a  large  central 
pen,  then  each  owner  selected  his  own  by  the  ear  mark  and 

Intice  them  into  their  fields  or  inclosures,  that  the  parson  so  offending  shall  be 
prosecuted  or  sued  for  every  such  offence  before  any  Justice  of  the  peace  by 
the  parsons  hereafter  named  in  the  behalf  of  the  said  Town,  and  out  of  the 
money  arising  from  the  damages,  given  by  the  said  Justice  on  these  suits  or 
prosecutions  the  parsons  who  sue  or  prosecute  in  the  behalf  of  the  Town  for 
such  trespases  or  damages  shall  be  paid  for  their  trouble  and  Charges  in 
prosecuting  the  same,  and  it  is  further  voated  that  Peter  Titus,  Thomas  Wil- 
liams, John  Jackson,  Junior,  John  Smith,  rock  Senior  of  the  north  side,  John 
Dosenboro  of  forsters  meadow  and  Isaac  Jarman  shall  be  the  overs  to  take  care 
of  the  Sheep,  to  prosecut  for  said  trespass  or  offences,  and  they  arc  desired  to 
be  very  diligent  in  the  discharg  of  their  trust,  and  it  is  also  voated  and  agreed 
that  no  rams  be  turned  out  or  suffered  to  run  at  large  on  the  said  plains  or 
Commons  from  the  first  day  of  August  next  untill  the  first  day  of  October  next. 
The  services  rendered  by  any  citizen  in  keeping  coarse  wool  rams  from  the 
flocks  on  the  plaines  will  be  paid  by  Col.  Tredwell,  who  has  money  in  his 
hands  for  that  purpose. 

This  voat  to  be  in  force  for  the  year  ensuing  and  no  longer. 

Liber  D,  page  453,  Town  Records. 


87 


W' 


put  them  in  their  individual  pens.  This  process  was  con- 
tinued until  all  the  sheep  were  taken  out;  but  if  some  yet 
remained  without  a  claimant  on  the  last  day  they  were  sold 
at  outcry  to  the  highest  bidder  and  the  proceeds  went  toward 
paying  expenses. 

The  sheep  parting  in  the  fall  is  of  historical  interest. 
It  was  the  great  holiday  of  the  times.  Here  rogues,  thieves 
and  bullies  congregated,  creditors  came  in  quest  of  debtors, 
dealers  and  traders  of  all  kinds  advertised  their  wares, 
horses  were  swapped  and  scrub  races  had;  betting,  gambling, 
drinking  and  fighting  were  in  the  order  of  the  day's  enter- 
tainment. To  counteract  these  numerous  evils,  the  town 
enacted  a  law  that  there  should  be  no  tavern  or  selling  of 
liquor  at  the  pens. 

There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  so  many  people  should 
congregate  at  the  Sheep  Parting,  except,  like  sheep,  one  goes  because 
another  goes.  It  took  place  on  the  open  Hempstead  plains  a  little 
southwest  from  Westbury.  Permanent  pens  had  been  erected  upon 
the  ground  in  which  to  confine  the  sheep  while  they  were  being  re- 
claimed, otherwise  there  was  not  a  structure,  shed,  tree  or  particle 
of  shelter  of  any  kind  upon  the  territory  proper  on  which  this  omni- 
verous  fair  was  held  except  the  temporary  booths  and  tents  erected  by 
tradesmen  and  showmen. 

There  was  a  vast  number  of  people  gathered  at  this  bleak  and  un- 
inviting spot,  summing  up  into  the  thousands.  To  natives  of  Queens 
County  who  had  resided  long  from  home,  sheep  parting  and  camp  meet- 
ing were  occasions  to  meet  and  greet  old  acquaintances,  reunions — 
not  that  they  had  either  sheep  or  religious  purposes  to  serve,  but  a  fairly 
excusable  object,  the  social.  Everybody  went  to  sheep  parting  and 
camp  meeting.  But  with  a  large  percentage,  sheep  parting  was  simply 
made  the  occasion  for  a  great  frolic  of  the  masculine  persuasion.  The 
number  of  those  who  came  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  the  fair,  or 
sheep  parting,  was  comparatively  small,  and  they  generally  transacted 
their  business  and  went  home;  the  fun  followed.  All  the  princes  in 
small  gambling  were  there,  from  Sam  Wait  and  Nick  Searing,  with 
their  sweat-cloths,  to  New  York  thimble  riggers  and  experts  at  three 
card  monte,  and  a  limited  number  of  representatives  from  the  light- 
fingered  fraternity. 

In  eatables  and  drinkables  the  commissariat  was  ample  for  any 
contingency.  Patty  Ann  Wright  was  there  with  cake,  gingerbread  and 
vivant  beer;  oysters,  watermelons  by  the  wagon  load.     There  was  hot 

88 


corn,  a  traffic  monopolized  by  the  darkey,  and  served  with  scrupulous 
neatness. 

Among  the  amusements  there  was  a  troop  of  lofty  tumblers,  clowns, 
harlequins  and  pantaloons,  whose  wit  and  flexible  bodies  were  marvelous 
exhibits. 

But  the  most  attractive,  best  patronized  and  most  creditable  sport- 
ing feature  of  the  fair  was  the  dancing,  foot-racing,  leaping  and  wrestling 
matches.  These  sports  were  carried  on  with  order  and  decency  by 
persons  who  were  lovers  of  athletics.  This  was  by  far  the  most  manly 
and  respectable  feature  of  the  show.  Officers  of  the  law  maintained 
order. 

The  fat  woman,  who  weighed  four  hundred  pounds,  more  or  less, 
and  the  skeleton  man,  who  weighed  only  sixty  pounds,  less  or  more, — 
the  former  in  a  tent,  the  latter  in  a  covered  wagon.  The  purveyors 
of  the  two  last  itinerant  marvels  of  human  phenomena  stood  at  the 
doors  of  their  respective  institutions  proclaiming  in  Thrasonic  voices 
the  merits  of  their  products.  All  for  one  shilling.  The  above  by  no 
means  exhausts  the  bill  of  fare. 

It  being  now  near  the  fall  election,  the  politicians  also  made  sheep 
parting  the  occasion  for  putting  their  goods  on  the  market,  and  ven- 
tilate their  righteous  purposes  of  reform  and  expose  the  rascality  of  the 
other  side.  (A  matter  susceptible  of  easy  proof.)  A  little  outside  of 
the  main  show  ground,  or  aside  from  the  sheep  pens  and  on  another 
part  of  the  field,  a  stand  had  been  erected  by  the  Whigs  on  which  was 
displayed  a  large  poster,  "Opposed  to  Selling  the  Marshes  and  Plains." 
Year  after  year  propositions  had  been  made,  plans  submitted  and  voted 
upon  at  town  meetings,  and  committees  appointed  for  dividing  the 
common  lands  of  the  town,  all  of  which,  for  reasons,  failed  in  fruition, 
but  it  was  nevertheless  made  a  campaign  issue  when  its  agitation  was 
likely  to  affect  the  popular  vote.  Not  more  than  two  hundred  feet  dis- 
tant from  the  stand  was  another  platform  erected  by  the  Democrats. 
At  these  two  stands  were  holding  forth  respectively  William  McNeil 
and  Bernardus  Hendrickson  and  other  local  spoilsmen  upon  the  great 
national  questions  of  the  day,  and  the  merits  of  their  party  candidates 
for  the  November  election. 

Some  go  to  sheep  parting  for  business,  some  for  social  intercourse, 
more  for  fun.  The  programme  of  entertainment  is  so  extempore,  varied 
and  impulsive  that  one  who  goes  for  coarse  fun  can  hardly  fail  of  finding 
some  agreeable  comedy  or  comic  tragedy.  The  ostensible  purpose  of 
sheep  parting,  originally  participated  in  only  by  farmers,  was  to  collect 
their  sheep,  which  had  been  corralled  by  the  keepers,  and  drive  them 
home  to  house  them  for  the  winter,  and  fully  and  particularly  set  forth 
in  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  people.* 

♦At  a  Town  Meeting  held  in  Hempstead,  the  first  Tuesday  in  April, 
1768,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

Whereas  it  has  been  the  practice  for  many  persons  in  this  Towne  to  Drive 
ye  Sheep  feeding  on  Hempstead  plains  up  into  private  yards  in  many  parts  of 

•7  '  89 


Stock  raising,  and  especially  sheep  for  their  wool  and  mutton,  was 
followed  by  the  people  of  the  town  of  Hempstead  from  the  earliest  set- 
tlement and  has  been  continued  up  to  the  present,  but  the  census  shows 
a  decline  in  the  number  of  sheep  raised  for  the  past  few  years.  Great 
care  has  always  been  observed  in  the  management  of  the  common  lands, 
the  plains  and  the  marshes,  so  important  a  factor  in  stock  raising.  The 
earliest  record  we  have  of  stock  tenders  was  in  1658,  when  William 
Jacocks  and  Edward  Raynor  were  appointed  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  Townsmen  to  look  after  the  cattle  and  sheep  on  the  plains  and 
preserve  them  from  thieves  and  wolves.  And  we  believe  these  offices 
have  been  filled  at  the  town  meetings  or  General  Assembly  to  the  pres- 
ent. One  of  the  great  enemies  of  the  farmer  to  sheep  raising  was  the 
wolf;  eternal  vigilance  alone  prevented  whole  herds  being  destroyed  by 
them.  My  grandfather  said  it  was  his  impression  that  there  were  but 
few  wolves  on  Long  Island  prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  sheep  in- 
dustry. The  wolf's  sense  of  smell  is  very  acute  and  he  will  smell  a 
sheepfold  miles  away.  They  come  over  in  the  winter  on  the  ice  of  the 
East  River  or  Sound  in  great  numbers  and  the  following  season  great 
havoc  was  made  among  the  sheep,  although  great  efforts  were  made  to 
destroy  them.  A  bounty  of  twenty  shillings*  a  head  was  given  to  every 
one  destroyed,  but  they  seemed  to  fill  their  decimated  ranks  every 
winter  and  there  was  little  or  no  diminution  to  their  numbers  or  depre- 
dations. Renewed  efforts,  however,  on  the  part  of  the  town  officers 
soon  had  its  effect  and  they  began  to  decline.  The  wolf  became  very 
bold  and  ravenous  when  pressed  by  hunger,  and  numbers  are  the  in- 
stances in  which  he  invaded  the  farmyards  in  winter  and  carried  away 


the  Town  in  order  to  Separate  and  pick  out  their  own  perticular  Sheep  from 
day  to  day  Sometime  before  the  day  fixed  for  a  general  parting,  whereby  the 
flock  is  so  Scatered  that  people  are  put  to  Much  Greater  Deficulty  in  Collecting 
them  togather  than  if  they  were  let  run  to  the  day  of  General  parting,  to  pre- 
vent which  for  the  futer  the  Major  part  of  the  freeholders  assembled  at  this 
Town  Meeting  do  Make  the  under  Mentioned  Orders,  that  is  to  Say  that  ye  gen- 
eral parting  of  the  Sheep  Shall  be  held  in  the  fall  of  the  year  on  the  first  Mon- 
day in  November  Yearly,  and  that  after  the  parting  is  over  in  the  Spring  of 
the  Year  No  person  Shall  Drive  up  Any  Sheep  in  Order  to  pick  out  their  Own 
until  that  day,  and  then  in  no  other  place  but  at  the  public  Yards  in  the  Town 
Spott  of  Hempstead,  under  the  penalty  of  Twenty  Shillings  for  Each  offence, 
and  the  persons  hereafter  Named,  or  Either  of  them,  are  Chosen  to  Sue  for 
the  Said  fines  and  when  Recovered  to  pay  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Church 
Wardens  for  the  use  of  the  poor. 

To  Wit:  Benjamin  Cheesman,  Isaac  Hendrickson,  Ben  Gildersleve,  Jos. 
Hall,  Carmon  Rushmore,  Justice  Jackson  and  Peter  Titus. 

At  the  Same  time,  Timothy  Clowes  and  Silvanus  Beadle  was  chosen  to 
Sell  Such  Stray  Sheep  as  no  Owners  Appear  to  Claim  at  the  time  of  parting. 

*  It  is  ordered  and  concluded  upon  at  a  general  towne  meeting  held  on 
the  19th  day  of  May,  1663,  That  any  inhabitant  of  this  Towne  that  shall  kill 
any  woolfe  or  woolfes  within  three  weeks'  time  from  the  day  above  written 
and  within  four  miles  of  the  Towne,  hee  shall  have  twenty  five  shillings  paid 
him  in  Corne  for  every  woolfe  he  killeth;  But  after  the  said  three  weeks'  time 
be  expired  they  are  to  have  but  fifteen  shillings  a  woolfe  in   Corne. 

90 


young  sheep.  These  attacks,  however,  became  less  frequent  and  finally 
ceased  altogether.  But  during  their  reign  many  hundreds  of  sheep 
were  destroyed  by  them  and  they  sometimes  attacked  young  cattle. 

Sheep  parting,  as  they  say  nowadays,  is  ancient  history, 
a  back  number.  It  is,  however,  replete  with  incident  and 
method  of  our  ancestors,  highly  illustrative  of  their  lives  and 
times.  To  the  interested  reader  not  reared  under  the  shadow 
of  the  old  custom,  an  explanation  may  be  required  not 
included  in  the  foregoing  transcript  from  the  journal  written 
over  sixty  years  ago. 

First:  It  is  a  survival  of  an  old  Friesland  custom  or 
enactment.  When  the  townspeople  had  grazing  rights  in  com- 
mon to  the  unappropriated  land  or  common  lands,  we  find 
in  their  old  law  provisions  for  a  cow-herd  or  calf-keeper, 
whose  duties  were  precisely  those  of  the  keepers  appointed 
at  the  Hempstead  town  meeting.  This  old  Norse  custom  or 
law  was  found  by  our  American  ancestors  to  contain  useful 
provisions  for  their  model. 

But  the  office  of  cow-herd  was  never  so  important  a 
trust  in  American  as  with  our  Norse  ancestors,  whose  herds 
and  flocks  constituted  their  almost  entire  possessions.  Con- 
sequently its  provisions  were  less  rigorously  observed  and 
enforced  here  than  in  its  homestead;  but  it  had  degenerated 
along  the  whole  line  of  descent  until  at  the  present  time 
(1900)  all  we  have  to  show  for  one  of  the  most  significant 
customs  of  our  Norse  ancestors  is  the  modern  pound  keepers. 
As  an  institution  of  the  town  of  Hempstead  the  keeper  dates 
from  colonial  days  or  the  earliest  English  settlement. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Hempstead  Plains  was,  prior  to 
the  purchase  of  Alexander  T.  Stewart,  common  lands  of  the 
town.  It  was  territory  reserved  by  the  original,  or  in  the 
original  grants  or  patents,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  for 
pasturage  of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  in  the  early  days  of  the 
colony  thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep  were  pastured  there. 
The  further  privilege  was  granted  to  every  freeholder  of 
cutting  grass  on  said  plains.     The  commissioners  of  high- 

91 


ways  were  required  to  keep  open  the  means  of  access  to  the 
public  watering  places,  and  for  the  purpose  of  looking  after 
the  interest  of  freeholders  who  patronized  the  public  lands; 
officers  were  elected  at  the  annual  town  meetings  or  town 
assemblys.  A  great  portion  of  the  acts  passed  related  to 
sheep,  cattle  and  the  common  lands. 

But  the  sheep.  Farmers  engaged  in  sheep  raising  and 
wishing  to  avail  themselves  of  the  public  privilege  of  turning 
their  cattle  and  sheep  upon  the  public  lands  were  required  to 
adopt  a  device  to  the  end  of  proving  their  ownership  in  the 
event  of  any  dispute  at  the  sheep  parting.  As  before  stated, 
this  mark  was  cut  in  the  ear  of  the  animal. 

There  was  a  period  when  wool  raising  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  town  of  Hempstead  was  among  the  industries 
of  the  day.  Every  farmer  or  planter  had  his  drove  of  sheep, 
and  to  some  extent  his  drove  of  sheep  was  an  index  to  his 
capacity  or  extent  of  his  plantation.  So  marked  had  this 
industry  become  that  a  capitalist  by  the  name  of  William 
Clowes  built  a  woolen  factory  at  Mllburn,  on  the  site  of  the 
old  grist  mill.  A  great  many  hands  were  employed  in  this 
factory,  men  and  women.  Here  the  wool  for  the  country 
about  was  carded,  spun,  woven  and  fulled  into  cloth  for  con- 
sumption. We  remember  the  old  factory;  it  did  not  pay 
and  was  discontinued  and  the  grist  mill  reinstated  by  Daniel 
Terry,  a  millwright.  The  wool  factory,  which  was  a  large 
building,  was  moved  or  turned  around  and  made  to  face  the 
south  road  and  converted  into  a  hotel  and  so  remains  today. 

The  wool  industry  and  sheep  parting  on  Long  Island 
are  things  entirely  of  the  past.  Yet  from  the  little  Long  Island 
beginnings  the  wool  industry  of  the  United  States  has  become 
the  greatest  in  the  world. 

Wool  growing  has  been  at  various  times  and  by  various 
acts  fostered  and  protected  by  Congress  until  it  has  grown 
in  the  southwest  to  gigantic  proportions.  The  wool  factories 
of  the  United  States  are  now  working  into  fabrics  five  hun- 
dred  million   pounds   of   wool   annually,    and   nearly   three- 

92 


quarters  of  the  raw  material  is  raised  in  the  United  States 
and  the  whole  of  it  is  retained  in  the  country  for  home  con- 
sumption. Wool  raising  at  the  present  time  is  made  a  special 
business  by  those  who  do  nothing  else,  and  the  industry,  as  we 
remember  it  of  Long  Island  carried  on  by  farmers  having 
from  ten  to  a  hundred  sheep  on  the  Hempstead  Plains,  has 
grown  on  the  plains  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Utah,  Wyoming, 
Oregon  and  California,  to  more  than  forty  millions  sheep 
at  the  present,  and  the  carding,  dyeing,  weaving  and  fulling 
formerly  performed  on  the  farm  are  now  done  by  the  finest 
and  most  complicated  machinery  in  the  world.  The  Hemp- 
stead Plains  would  not  furnish  standing  room  for  all  the 
sheep  in  the  United  States  today. 

Our  history  of  sheep  does  not  go  back  to  a  great 
antiquity,  considered  geologically. 

"No  unequivocal  fossils  of  the  sheep  have  yet  been  found 
in  the  bone-caves,  the  drift  or  the  more  tranquil,  stratified, 
newer  pliocene  deposits  so  associated  with  the  fossil  bones 
of  oxen,  wild  boars,  wolves,  foxes,  etc.,  as  to  indicate  the 
coevality  of  the  sheep  with  these  species,  or  in  such  an  altered 
state  as  to  indicate  them  to  have  been  of  equal  antiquity." 

Scientists  have  directed  their  attention  particularly  to  this 
point  in' collecting  evidence  for  a  history  of  fossil  mammals. 
No  fossil  core  horns  of  the  sheep  have  yet  been  anywhere 
discovered,  and  so  far  as  this  negative  evidence  goes  we  may 
infer  that  the  sheep  is  not  geologically  more  ancient  than 
man.  That  it  is  not  a  native  of  Europe,  but  has  been  intro- 
duced by  the  tribes  who  carried  hither  the  germs  of  civiliza- 
tion in  their  migrations  westward  from  Asia. 

Tuesday,  November  19,  1839. 

Since  the  election  the  weather  has  been  very  unsettled.  It  has 
rained  or  snowed,  and  sometimes  both,  nearly  every  day.  The  roads 
are  very  sloppy;  we  consequently  have  been  unable  to  visit  home  for 
nearly  two  weeks.  Should  we  have  freezing  weather,  which  is  prom- 
ised, will  go  home  next  Friday  or  Saturday,  to  be  present  on  mother's 
birthday.  Uncle  Oliver  and  Nathaniel  Ellsworth  are  expected  to  be 
present. 

93 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Natural  History  of  Long  Island. — Professor  J.  P.  Giraud,  Jr. — Long  Island 

Ichthyology. 
Friday,  March  6,   1840. 

COMET  of  great  magnitude  and  density,  with  a  tail 
of  enormous  extent,  made  its  first  appearance  in  the 
northern  heavens  on  the  20th  of  February  last,  accord- 
ing to  the  newspapers,  and  on  the  same  authority,  was 
approaching  the  earth  at  the  rate  of  1,200,000  miles  an 
hour,  and  they  have  ever  since  been  treating  their  readers 
to  a  dessert  of  horrors — appalling  disasters — from  this  harbinger  of 
evil,  providing  always  that  the  long-tailed  stranger  running  lawless 
through  the  sky  should  come  in  collision  with  our  dear  old  mother  earth, 
as  some  unskillful  and  bungling  astronomer  has  predicted  it  will. — (In 
which  event  it  would  bring  grief  to  the  comet.)  Great  alarm  and 
thousands  of  prayers  (which  can  do  no  harm)  are  being  offered  to 
avert  so  dreadful  a  calamity.  The  ignorance  of  the  aforementioned 
astronomer  of  the  theories  of  Tycho  Brahe,  Kepler,  Galileo,  La  Place 
or  Newton  is  phenomenal. 

Aside  from  the  mere  scare  there  is  nothing  to  apprehend  from  such 
a  collision  of  the  subtile  foreigner,  which  may  be  a  sister  orb  in  our 
own  stellar  commonwealth,  and  whose  orbit,  instead  of  lawless,  may  be 
in  rigid  conformity  to  law  and  orbicular  allegiance  to  our  central  sun. 
Who  knows? 

Whatever  the  constituent  of  comets,  we  have  the  best  assurance 
in  the  world  that  it  is  not  one  of  their  functions  to  disturb  the  equilib- 
rium of  solid  matter.  (Read  the  result  of  Herschell's  Long  Years  in 
Watching  the  Heavens.) 

But  all  our  platitudes  have  faded  into  thin  nebula,  for  it  has  turned 
out  to  be  no  comet  at  all.  The  northern  heavens  for  the  past  fortnight 
have  been  shrouded  in  a  vapory  nimbus,  more  favorable  to  sensational 
newspaper  speculations  than  to  correct  astronomical  observation.  Hence, 
these  unwarranted  rumors.  One  flash  of  the  clear  sky  and  true  science 
reported  that  no  derelict  of  the  sky  had  invaded  the  planitoid  universe 
of  the  boreal  heavens.  And  the  dreaded  comet  turned  out  to  be  only 
a  flushed  supply  of  harmless  zodiacical  light  (phosphorescence  or  gas). 
Aurora  borealis,  entirely  impotent  of  harm.  We  can  never  be  quite 
certain  of  anything  told  us,  even  though  we  see  it  in  the  papers. 

1839  —  40. 

J.  P.  Giraud,  Jr.,  a  naturalist,  occupies  the  carpenter  and  wheel- 
wright shop  of  George  Smith  at  Raynortown  for  the  purpose  of  collect- 

94 


ing  natural  history  specimens,  and  especially  birds  of  Long  Island. 
Many  of  his  specimens  are  already  mounted,  and  this  old  shop  possesses 
peculiar  attractions  to  us,  and  we  are  a  frequent  visitor  and  have  per- 
sonally supplied  many  of  the  bird  and  other  natural  history  specimens 
which  now  adorn  the  collection  of  Professor  Giraud,  for  which  the  pro- 
fessor paid  liberal  prices  to  the  grubber.  He  was  very  kind,  and  dis- 
coursed freely  on  natural  history  subjects. 

This  labor  of  Professor  Giraud  resulted  in  one  of  the 
most  exhaustive  popular  works  on  this  subject  ever  published 
in  this  country,  "Birds  of  Long  Island,"  containing  three 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  pages  and  describing  five  hundred 
and  sixty  varieties  of  birds. 

This  professor  was  fully  equipped  for  his  work.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  of  New 
York,  corresponding  member  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences of  Philadelphia,  etc.,  and  his  plain  little  book,  which 
appeared  In  1844  from  the  press  of  Wiley  &  Putnam,  Is  a 
monument  to  his  Industry  and  talent. 

In  his  preface  to  that  work  he  says:  "In  preparing  a  list 
of  the  birds  of  Long  Island,  I  have  studiously  avoided  intro- 
ducing any  species  that  I  have  not  met  with,  or  received  from 
the  very  best  authority  an  Intimation  of  Its  occurrence  In  our 
locality." 

The  occurrence  on  Long  Island  of  many  species  that  are 
rarely  or  never  observed  in  other  parts  of  the  middle  dis- 
tricts, win  doubtless  appear  somewhat  remarkable  to  those 
who  are  unacquainted  with  the  locality.  But  when  they  exam- 
ine the  map  and  find  that  this  lengthy  and  comparatively 
narrow  Island  extends  some  distance  Into  the  ocean  nearly  at 
right  angles  to  the  mainland  of  the  continent,  containing  within 
Its  boundaries  numerous  bays.  Inlets,  shoals  and  bars  abound- 
ing In  all  the  various  kinds  of  food  peculiar  to  every  species 
of  marine  bird.  It  will  not  seem  surprising  that  these  species, 
which  are  more  abundant  on  the  higher  as  well  as  the  tem- 
perate latitudes,  should,  In  their  wanderings,  visit  these 
hospitable  shores. 

Not  only  Is  our  section  the  resort  for  nearly  every  species 

95 


of  water  bird  found  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
but  out  of  less  than  five  hundred  birds  now  ascertained  to 
belong  to  North  America,  two  hundred  have  been  frequenters 
of  this  famous  little  island.  In  fact,  no  portion  of  our  country 
of  the  same  extent  is  richer  in  resources  for  the  student  of 
natural  history  or  more  inviting  to  the  sportsman  than  this 
garden  of  the  middle  districts. 

The  Great  South  Bay,  occupying  a  distance  of  seventy 
miles  of  uninterrupted  inland  navigation,  with  its  sea-washed 
shores,  abounding  in  numerous  species  of  shellfish  and  other 
fish,  doubtless  contains  treasures  yet  unknown  to  the  ichthyolo- 
gist or  conchologist.  Here  is  also  a  field  for  the  zoologist, 
botanist,  geologist  and  ethnologist.  Professor  Jacob  P.  Gi- 
raud  died  at  Poughkeepsie ;  his  ornithological  collection  was 
presented  to  Vassar  College  of  that  place. 

Tuesday,  March  10,  1840. 

Today  Uncle  Daniel  Smith  launched  a  sloop,  built  by  himself  dur- 
ing the  past  year.  The  launching  was  attended  by  quite  a  crowd  of 
neighbors.  The  sloop  Is  designed  for  coasting  and  traffic  and  was 
christened  "Plough  Boy,"  being  the  fifteenth  sea-going  craft  launched 
from  this  yard. 

In  tracing  its  career,  the  old  "Plough  Boy"  is  still  (1904) 
doing  service  as  an  oyster  boat.  The  events  and  vicissitudes  in 
the  life  of  the  old  coaster  account  materially  to  its  great 
longevity  and  vitality.  Having  been  once  in  collision  with  a 
Hamilton  Avenue  ferryboat,  being  badly  broken  up  and  sunk, 
on  another  occasion  pretty  thoroughly  burned  out.  On  each 
of  the  above  and  on  various  other  minor  occasions  the  old  Boy 
has  been  renovated  and  restored  to  an  extent  that  little  now 
physically  remains  save  the  name,  the  keel  and  the  model,  of 
the  original  "Plough  Boy,"  nearly  every  original  timber  having 
been  substituted  by  new. 

It  is  strange,  considering  its  "strenuous  life,"  that  the 
old  "Plough  Boy"  should  have  escaped  dissolution  through 
the  popular  calamity  of  shipwreck.  But  it  is  not  too  late  yet, 
providing  the  old  weathered  veteran  is  doomed  to  an  end  of 

96 


violence;  if  such,  let  it  be  a  graceful  and  dignified  shipwreck 
while  in  vigorous  life.  At  all  events,  let  us  hope  that  it  may 
be  saved  the  mortifying  fate  of  being  dismantled  and  aban- 
doned, a  prey  to  the  teredo,  in  the  corner  of  some  inf  requented 
creek  or  estuary  of  the  South  Bay,  an  outcast,  an  impediment 
to  navigation,  there  to  swale  with  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  slug- 
gish tide,  with  hatchways  grown  up  with  salt  sedge,  until  final 
entombment  in  the  accumulating  mud  and  filth  of  the  neighbor- 
ing sewer.  Better  turn  turtle  or  derelict  in  mid-ocean,  or  per- 
ish on  some  ignoble  sand  spit,  battling  the  elements,  than  such 
a  fate — die  game. 
Saturday,  April  4,  1840. 

From  our  earliest  childhood  we  have  beheld  with  marvelous  ad- 
miration the  phenomenon  of  the  migration  of  a  flock  of  wild  geese. 
There  are  but  few  Long  Islanders  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  mys- 
terious annual  pilgrimage  of  the  wild  goose  northward  in  the  spring 
and  his  return  in  the  fall. 

A  flock  of  fifty  of  these  bulky,  awkward  winged  bipeds  in  pro- 
cession, following  each  other  in  strict  Indian  file  in  an  absolutely 
straight  line,  with  a  captain  on  the  right  side,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
overhead,  sweeping  noiselessly  along  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour, 
is  an  interesting  spectacle.  It  is  an  exhibition  of  great  determination 
of  purpose  and  a  stateliness  of  movement  which  commands  attention, 
and  even  admiration.  They  appear  to  be  engaged  in  a  great  and  im- 
portant mission  and  all  other  business  has  been  laid  aside  until  its  ful- 
fillment. 

On  the  appearance  of  a  flock  of  geese,  first  indicated  by  an  occa- 
sional "Honk"  of  the  captain  gander,  the  farmer  will  suspend  work, 
poise  himself  on  his  hoe,  scan  the  horizon  until  he  has  located  it,  and 
will  not  resume  labor  until  it  has  passed  out  of  sight.  The  man  on  the 
road  will  stop,  the  carpenter  will  lay  down  his  hammer,  and  from  the 
school  child  to  the  gray-haired  sage,  all  find  a  momentary  interest  in 
witnessing  this  extraordinary  flight  of  the  wild  goose.  Yet  there  is 
nothing  so  very  peculiar  in  the  sight,  or  movement  of  a  flock  of  geese. 
They  travel  in  a  straight  line  for  their  destination,  and  at  a  great 
speed,  and  appear  to  be  wonderfully  in  earnest  in  carrying  out  their 
purpose.  But  they  are  a  desperately  dissatisfied  race;  the  places  they 
make  their  homes  are  alternately  too  hot  and  too  cold.  Consequently 
a  large  portion  of  their  time  is  spent  in  getting  ready  (packing  up) 
and  moving  twice  a  year. 

And  many  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  our  northern  states  who  pos- 
sess the  means  and  can  command  the  leisure — and  who  do — escape  the 
rigors  of  our  Arctic  winters  in  migrating  with  a  frain  of  family  ser- 

97 


vants,  baggage  and  trunks  to  Florida  (Ponce  de  Leon),  or  some  other 
tropical  paradise,  have  many  traits  in  common  with  a  goose. 

On  the  flight  of  the  goose  we  hypothecate  an  early  spring,  or  late 
winter,  but  the  goose  knows  no  more  about  the  weather  than  our 
Brooklyn  Heights  philosopher,  Merriam.  For  two  days  past  the  flight 
of  wild  geese  has  been  the  most  extraordinary  ever  known  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  so  great  as  to  provoke  comment.  This  fact  is  attested 
by  the  oldest  people  of  the  place,  and  if  a  cause  for  this  were  needed, 
the  following  may  prove  satisfactory: 

The  wild  goose  in  migrating  to  his  summer  habitation,  as  he  does 
every  spring,  from  his  native  jungle  of  the  Gulf  States  to  higher  lati- 
tudes, sometimes  tarries  on  the  way,  either  to  obtain  rest,  or  food,  or 
both.  The  weather  for  the  past  four  or  five  days  has  been  cool  and 
large  bodies  of  these  birds  halted  and  have  been  feeding  in  and  about 
the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  other  bays  on  the  coast.  The  weather  being 
agreeable  to  them,  they  remained,  and  with  the  fresh  arrivals  of  each 
day  they  became  a  great  multitude.  When  the  weather  suddenly 
changed  to  a  higher  temperature,  they  resumed  their  pilgrimage  for 
the  same  reason  and  pretty  nearly  at  the  same  time.  This  southern 
exit  extraordinary  accounts  for  the  great  flight  which  has  continued  for 
two  days.  We  saw  today  ten  flocks  of  geese  in  sight  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. 

The  wild  goose  has  great  powers  of  flight  and  flies  very  high,  just 
beyond  the  reach  of  shot  guns.  Great  numbers  have  been  known  to 
rendezvous  in  the  Great  South  Hempstead  Bay  in  former  times,  and 
when  not  disturbed  by  hunters,  have  remained  several  days  while 
feeding  was  good  and  the  weather  not  too  warm.  They  are  very 
timid,  easily  frightened,  and  the  discharge  of  a  shot  gun  would  startle 
every  goose  within  its  hearing.  It  is  in  consequence  of  the  cautiousness 
that  so  few  are  taken  during  their  sojourn  in  our  waters.  The  wild 
goose  is  very  social  with  his  kind  and  when  flying  keeps  up  at  pretty 
regular  intervals  a  honking,  with  a  view  of  opening  communication 
with  his  kind  below. 

But  it  was  our  intention  to  record  the  account  of  shooting  a  goose 
this  morning,  but  we  have  wandered  off  on  a  wild  goose  chase,  entirely 
ignoring  our  original  purpose.  We  went  out  with  our  gun  this  morn- 
ing fortunately,  not  for  the  purpose  of  shooting  geese,  but  for  the  small 
game.  In  noting  the  great  number  of  wild  geese  flying,  our  eyes  for- 
tuitously fell  upon  two  birds  entirely  distinct  from  the  migrating  geese 
flying  directly  towards  us  at  a  rate  of  at  least  eighty  miles  an  hour. 
They  were  only  about  thirty  or  forty  yards  high  and  were  coming  in 
a  bee  line.  There  was  no  time  for  reflection  or  reasoning  upon  what 
were  best  to  do.  There  was  barely  time  to  do  it.  Quicker  than  thought 
our  gun  was  at  our  shoulder,  elevated  about  forty-five  degrees  with 
such  precarious  aim  (or  no  aim  at  all)  as  one  takes  on  such  occasions, 
and  fired.     One  of  the  birds  fell.     We  are  unable  to  say  whether  it 

98 


was  the  front  or  hind  bird,  but  he  struck  the  ground  dead  about  three 
hundred  feet  beyond  us.  This  bird  was  a  goose,  but  of  a  variety  en- 
tirely unknown  to  us.  A  post-mortem,  however,  held  on  the  body  by 
some  of  the  oldest  and  astutest  sporting  neighbors  pronounced  it  a 
white  goose  {A user  hyperboreus)  of  a  variety  much  smaller  than  the 
Canadensis  wild  goose  and  very  rare  in  this  country,  but  common  in 
Norway. 

This  is  our  story  of  shooting  a  goose  which  is  a  case  of  purely 
accidental  killing. 

In  the  literature  of  the  ancient  world  the  domestic  goose 
occupies  an  important  place.  He  was  the  sacred  bird  of  many 
peoples,  and  yet  he  was  almost  universally  recognized  as  the 
symbol  of  stupidity.  He  was  despised  by  the  Gauls  and 
Franks;  ancestrally  hated  by  the  Italians;  was  the  sacred  bird 
of  the  Egyptians,  Ceylonese,  Burmese  and  Chinese;  was  wor- 
shipped by  the  Romans,  who  were  very  grateful  to  the  goose, 
and  awarded  to  him  an  annual  festival  at  the  Capitol,  for  the 
malntalnance  of  which  a  large  sum  was  appropriated.  Mother 
Goose  stories  prevail  in  nearly  all  the  nationalities  of  the  earth. 

The  common  wild  goose  of  America,  Anser  Canadensis, 
spends  his  winters  In  the  gulfs,  bays  and  estuaries  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  Florida,  and  the  entire  sea- 
coast,  as  well  as  the  Inlands,  of  Florida.  He  leaves  these 
quarters  In  March  and  early  April  and  journeys  northward,  not 
In  a  solid  body,  but  In  detachments.  The  period  of  his  de- 
parture Is  regulated  very  much  by  the  season.  When  warm 
weather  comes  on  he  takes  wing.  He  Is  not  fond  of  extreme 
cold,  and  his  summers  are  spent  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  Magdalene  Islands,  and  the  Labra- 
dor coast;  the  latter  absolutely  swarm  with  them.  He  some- 
times visits  the  Interior  territory  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany In  great  numbers  as  far  west  as  Manitoba.  He  remains 
north  during  the  summer  or  breeding  season,  and  starts  south- 
ward In  October.  And  In  the  early  days,  before  the  Innovation 
of  civilized  man  and  gunpowder,  the  southern  shore  of  Long 
Island  was  a  great  breeding  place  of  the  wild  goose.  The 
ducks,  such  as  brant,  mallards,  canvasbacks  and  teal,  are  later 

99 


in  starting  for  their  summer  home  than  the  goose,  but  many 
of  them  arrive  earlier;  the  goose  loafs  on  the  way. 

Since  this  entry,  which  has  been  one  of  digressions,  it  mr.y 
not  be  uninteresting  to  wander  into  the  philological  realm 
for  a  moment.  Here  we  find  abundant  interesting  matter 
concerning  the  name  of  the  goose.  The  goose  is  known  all 
over  the  world  and  his  history  goes  back  into  the  dimmest  an- 
tiquity. In  the  Malay  or  Kawi  tongue  of  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago, the  sacred  language  of  Bali,  and  from  which  we  be- 
lieve all  other  names  of  the  goose  were  derived,  it  being  the 
most  ancient  language,  he  is  known  by  the  name  of  gangsa ;  in 
the  Bali  or  Pali,  closely  allied  to  the  Kawi,  hanza;  in  the  old 
Aryan,  hansa;  in  Ceylon,  henza;  in  Egypt,  Ahu-hanza^  or 
sacred  goose,  the  name  being  of  Malay  origin;  by  the  Romans, 
anser;  in  the  Portuguese,  ganso;  by  the  Spaniards,  ansar;  by 
the  Germans,  gans ;  and  by  the  English,  gander. 

These  names  by  which  the  goose  is  known  among  the 
different  nations  show  its  descent  and  probable  origin.  Our 
goose  is  now  up  to  the  philologist  for  ethnological  treatment. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  high  encomiums  bestowed  upon 
the  goose  by  the  ancients,  the  good  people  of  the  Town  of 
Hempstead  voted  him  a  nuisance,  and  legalized  his  assassina- 
tion. 

*Town  Meeting,  May  5,  1682. 

"Att  the  foregoing  townd  Meeting  it  was  concluded  by 
the  Ma  Jer  Vote  that  No  Teame  Geese  should  have  liberty 
to  goo  on  the  commons.  In  the  townd  after  the  fift  of  Novem- 
ber Next  insuing  and  that  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  Person 
to  shute  any  they  shall  find  on  the  commons  aforementioned 
after  the  time.     Perfixed." 

The  above  was  re-enacted  yearly. 

Monday,  April  20,  1840. 

This  day  a  native,  Dave  Leinad,  accomplished  the  greatest  fish- 
ing feat  ever  accomplished  on  Long  Island,  i.e.,  the  capture  of  a  pure 
American  brook  trout  weighing  four  pounds,  nine  ounces.  His  entire 
catch  for  the  day  was  four  trout.     The  aggregate  weight  was  eleven 

100 


pounds,  four  ounces.  They  were  taken  with  a  rod  and  line  from  the 
stream,  or  creek,  below  the  mill  pond  at  Milburn.  This  marvelous 
fish  above  named  was  the  largest  brook  trout  that  we  have  ever  seen — 
probably  the  largest  ever  taken  in  these  waters.  It  created  quite  a  sen- 
sation in  the  neighborhood  when  it  became  known.  Many  persons  were 
incredulous,  but  so  many  people  saw  the  fish  weighed  that  it  is  folly  to 
raise  the  question. 

The  above  Is  copied  from  an  entry  in  the  diary  made  at 
the  time.  Upon  this  entry  and  our  personal  recollection  rests 
the  good  faith  of  the  story  of  the  big  trout.  As,  however,  it  Is 
not  possible  at  this  late  day  to  produce  any  further  verification^ 
let  us  accept,  or  reject.  It  upon  what  we  have. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  pleasing  task  to  map  out  to  the 
reader,  or  to  retrospect  In  words,  the  famous  old  trout  stream 
which  has  produced  so  many  marvels.  This  stream  lies  en- 
tirely within  the  Town  of  Hempstead  and  was  born  of  the 
glacial  age.  When,  as  a  boy,  we  first  knew  It,  It  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  heavy  forest,  of  which  It  Is  now  dismantled,  and 
also  much  changed  by  cultivation  and  the  obliterating  hand  of 
time. 

The  volume  of  water  In  this  stream  at  the  time  when 
we  first  knew  it  was  certainly  twice  as  great  as  at  present. 

We  knew  the  little  stream  (for  such  It  was,  compared 
to  the  great  trout  streams  of  Maine),  every  foot  of  It,  and 
loved  It  from  its  source  to  the  ocean,  a  distance  of  about  fif- 
teen miles  in  Its  devious  course  as  it  existed  In  our  youth. 

We  have  traversed  it  In  spring  when  the  sweet  aroma  of 
the  budding  dog-wood,  the  music  of  birds  and  the  censorious 
croaking  of  frogs  were  side  diversions.  We  have  traversed  It 
In  the  heat  of  summer  and  have  lingered  in  Its  cool  recesses, 
shut  out  from  the  heat  and  glimmer  of  the  sun  by  a  dense  over- 
hanging foliage  of  bramble  and  vine.  We  have  traversed  Its 
shrunken  waters  in  the  stillness  of  autumn.  In  the  glory  of 
Indian  Summer,  of  brown  October,  amid  the  rustle  of  falling 
leaves,  and  found  It  even  then  full  of  grace  and  beauty,  al- 
though in  the  somber  mantle  of  decay  and  death. 

Like  all  other  streams  on  the  south  side  of  Long  Island, 

101 


it  had  its  origin  in  archaic  times  in  the  glacial  hills  which  skirt 
the  northern  edge  of  the  Island.  From  this  starting  point  it 
has  greatly  receded.  Within  the  memory  of  man,  however,  its 
source  was  a  small  pond  occupying  a  deep  hollow  in  the  bed 
of  the  ancient  glacial  stream  in  the  middle  of  the  great  plains. 
At  the  period  referred  to  it  was  fed,  or  supplied,  from  springs 
and  was  empty  during  extremely  dry  seasons,  while  now  it  is 
filled  only  in  extremely  wet  ones. 

From  this  point  the  infant  stream  pursued  a  southwester- 
ly course  in  a  depression  worn  by  the  ancient  glacial  current, 
until  it  reached  a  point  about  one  mile  east  from  the  Village  of 
Hempstead;  thence  its  course  was  almost,  or  directly,  south, 
with  but  little  crookedness,  through  a  dense  and  heavily  tim- 
bered forest,  about  two  miles  to  Turtle  Hook,  where  it  crossed 
the  Merrick  Turnpike,  and  about  one  mile  further  south  it 
crossed  the  swamp  road  leading  from  the  Main  South  Road 
at  Coe's  Neck  to  Hempstead.  The  stream  here  was  of  sur- 
passing beauty,  about  sixty  feet  wide,  the  current  swift  and 
over  a  clean,  pebbly  bottom,  and  at  ordinary  times  not  over 
five  Inches  deep;  thousands  of  trout  crossed  these  shallows 
daily.  Still  pursuing  its  course  southerly,  skirting  moderately 
high  ground  on  the  west,  and  through  a  continuous  swamp  of 
heavy  timber,  noted  for  the  great  beauty  and  variety  of  its 
flora  and  fauna,  its  forest  odors  and  bird  notes,  for  there  is 
scarcely  a  bird  known  to  the  ornithology  of  upland  birds  of 
the  State  of  New  York  representatives  of  which  could  not  be 
found  In  these  woods, — about  three  miles  to  the  Milburn  pond, 
the  stream  sometimes  flowing  between  banks  scarcely  five  feet 
apart  and  at  others  over  a  bed  fifty  feet  wide. 

It  was  an  ideal  trout  brook,  one  upon  which  poets  might 
dwell  with  enthusiasm  and  word-play: 

*'I  chatter  over  stoney  ways, 

''In  little  sharps  and  trebles, 

"I  bubble  into  eddying  bays, 

"And  babble  on  the  pebbles." 

— Tennyson. 

102 


At  the  end  of  the  last  named  three  miles  it  flowed  into  an 
artificial  lake  or  pond  created  in  the  early  history  of  the  town 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  power  for  a  grist  mill  located  at 
Milburn,  then  called  'The  Corners."  The  grant  for  this 
pond  was  to  John  Pine. 

To  this  point  the  stream  was  a  continuous  spawning  bed 
for  trout  and  the  pond  itself,  full  of  cold  springs,  was  a  pro- 
lific breeding  place. 

Flowing  through  this  lake  nearly  a  mile,  the  waters  of 
the  stream  escape  at  the  south  end  over  a  waste  gate  into  the 
creek  below.  This  pond  or  lake  in  our  boyhood  days  was  the 
temporary  abode  of  great  quantities  of  web-footed  game.  We 
distinctly  call  to  mind  many  varieties  of  ducks,  and  particular- 
ly the  hell  diver  (grebe),  the  latter  of  which  we  have  cause  to 
remember  with  much  mortification  for  the  many  abortive  ef- 
forts to  slay  them  with  an  old-fashioned  firearm.  They  were 
too  nimble  for  a  flint-lock. 

The  grebe  is  destructive  to  the  young  trout,  as  is  also  the 
duck,  and  the  kingfisher  destroys  thousands;  probably  not 
more  than  three  per  cent.  of*the  trout  hatched  naturally  escape 
all  the  varied  enemies  encountered  and  attain  maturity. 

Mr.  Dunbar,  an  old  man  who  lived  in  the  woods  near  the 
head  of  this  pond,  told  us  that  there  were  two  gigantic  pep- 
peridge  trees  in  the  swamp  not  far  from  his  home  in  early 
times,  on  which  eagles  built  their  nests  for  many  successive 
years,  and  that  they  fed  their  young  entirely  from  the  brook, 
taking  as  many  as  twenty  trout  a  day  to  their  young.  We 
wonderfully  suspect  that  Mr.  Dunbar's  eagles  were  simply  fish 
hawks,  which,  like  the  eagle,  is  a  noble  bird,  and  belongs  to 
the  Falconidse.  This  bird  was  from  twenty  inches  to  two  feet 
in  length  with  a  vast  spread  of  wing,  reaching  when  fully  ex- 
tended over  five  feet.    Pliny  called  it  the  *'Sea  Eagle." 

The  fish  hawk  is  strongly  built  and  is  of  great  flight,  has 
powerful  talons  for  seizing  and  holding  its  prey,  upon  which 
it  depends  entirely  for  food.  It  flies  slowly  over  the  water  at 
a  height  of  from  ten  to  twenty  yards;  when  it  sees  a  fish  it 


103 


drops  Itself  down  and  seizes  Its  game  In  Its  talons.  No  natur- 
alist or  fisherman  ever  understood  how  the  fish  hawk  managed 
to  get  a  living  fishing  with  Its  limited  appliances,  nor  could  he 
were  It  not  for  the  absolute  stupidity  of  Its  game.  He  cannot 
swim,  cannot  dive,  and  he  cannot  take  his  game  In  his  bill;  he 
is  only  calculated  to  take  fish  from  just  such  shallows  as  those 
described  In  our  stream.  Still  he  does  sometimes  take  them 
in  open  waters. 

The  pose  of  the  fish  hawk  when  sitting  Is  dignified  and 
haughty,  and  all  Its  movements  are  graceful.  It  Is  migratory 
and  arrives  In  our  latitude  in  the  early  part  of  March,  and 
leaves  for  Its  more  northern  home  and  breeding  place  about  the 
first  of  May.  This  bird  was  much  sought  after  by  the  In- 
dians; Its  quills  and  tail  feathers  were  used  by  them  to  plume 
their  arrows  and  to  ornament  their  calumet  and  adorn  their 
garments. 

A  few  rods  north  from  the  head  of  the  pond,  near  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Dunbar,  and  on  the  west  of  the  stream, 
nearly  opposite  the  residence  of  Samuel  Miller,  on  the  Hick's 
Neck  road  to  Hempstead,  in  the  tnlddle  of  this  swamp,  there 
was  within  our  recollection  (1840)  a  piece  of  cleared  upland 
of  about  two  acres.  It  at  one  period  had  divided  the  stream, 
when  It  (the  stream)  was  much  larger.  From  its  novel  situa- 
tion and  surroundings  and  traditions  it  was  a  fascinating  spot 
to  us.  We  visited  it  frequently  and  were  enamored  of  its 
natural  beauty  and  solitude.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  wild  and 
almost  Impenetrable  tangle  of  swamp  on  three  sides;  on  the 
other  was  the  stream.  The  ground  still  bore  evidence  of  for-^ 
mer  cultivation.  This  Island,  for  such  it  was,  was  detachec 
completely  from  the  mainland  by  a  dangerous  morass  on  the! 
west,  the  former  bed  of  the  stream.  In  this  morass  Thorne' 
Bedell,  a  simple  fellow,  an  old  resident  who  lived  within  two 
hundred  yards  of  the  spot,  became  entangled  one  dark  night 
and  perished.    This  was  late  in  the  30's. 

Tradition  says  that  in  early  times  this  island  was  ownedj 
and  occupied  by  two  Indian  families  who  lived  by  cultivating! 

104 


the  ground,  trapping  game,  gathering  nuts  and  berries  and 
following  the  bay.  They  were  regarded  as  industrious  and 
respectable.  During  this  period  a  feud  existed  between  the 
Indians  of  this  vicinity  and  the  Rockaway  and  Canarsie  tribes. 
Out  of  revenge  for  some  real  or  imaginary  outrage  committed 
upon  the  Rockaways  or  Canarsies  by  the  Merlkos,  a  company 
of  the  former  stealthily  gained  access  to  the  island  in  the 
night,  murdered  the  two  families  of  Indians,  men,  women  and 
children,  and  burned  their  houses.  This  was  regarded  as  a 
most  wanton  and  diabolical  outrage,  and  the  whites  of  the 
neighborhood  took  up  the  matter  with  a  determination  of 
punishing  the  perpetrators,  and  for  that  purpose  organized  a 
small  party  of  volunteers,  armed  themselves  and  marched  to 
Rockaway  and  Canarsie  to  arrest  the  culprits,  but  failed  to 
find  them,  the  tribes  denying  all  participation  in  the  crime. 
The  volunteers,  disclaiming  Indian  methods  of  visiting  ven- 
gence  upon  the  whole  tribe,  returned  without  accomplishing 
anything,  but  the  outrage  rankled  in  the  bosoms  of  the  people 
for  a  long  time,  and  Rockaway  and  Canarsie  Indians  were 
afraid  to  enter  the  territory  of  the  Merlkos  unless  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  defend  themselves  In  case  of  an  attack.  An  ac- 
count of  this  tragedy  was  current  In  the  neighborhood  when 
we  were  a  boy,  but  we  are  unable  to  give  even  an  approximate 
date  of  the  massacre,  except  the  date  of  the  Governor's  per- 
mit, allowing  pay  to  those  who  might  volunteer  to  go  against 
the  Indians.* 

At  the  time  of  our  familiarity  with  the  island  the  ground 
was  pretty  generally  covered  with  dwarf  huckleberry  shrubs 
(Soponaria),  but  there  was  extant  evidence  of  former  culti- 
vation, and  the  location  of  houses  and  remains  of  caches,  the 


♦From  liber  A,  page  114  of  the  town  records  of  the  Town   of  Hemp- 
stead we  copy  the  following: 

The  3d  of  Oc't  1659. 
Upon  a  message  sent  by  ye  Governor  by  Capt.  Newton  &  Leut'nt  Steclwell 
it  was  granted  that  all  Vollentiers  that  were  desirous  to  goe  under  pay  ag'st 
ye  Indians  mighte  have  their  liberty  to  goe  out  of  this  place. 
Teste 

JOHN  JAMES.  [8.S.] 

8  105 


Indian  method  of  preserving  their  potatoes  and  other  vege- 
tables during  the  winter.  And  the  great  number  of  shells  about 
the  ground  was  an  evidence  that  the  occupants  lived  largely 
upon  molluscs  from  the  bay. 

The  pond  or  lake  heretofore  referred  to  was  about  one 
thousand  feet  wide  and  flooded  a  portion  of  the  original 
Tredwell  estate. t  After  passing  the  waste  gate  on  our  way 
to  the  ocean  the  stream  and  surroundings  assumed  an  entirely 
different  character.  The  swamp  and  forest  disappear,  and 
its  course  was  then  through  meadow  and  marsh  land  beset  with 
reeds,  mallow,  calamus  and  cat-tails  (typha),  about  two  miles 
as  the  crow  flies  to  the  Hempstead  Bay,  but  instead  of  being 


tFrom  The  South  Side  Observer.     1885. 
A  Notable  Lawsuit. 

The  Court  of  Appeals  has  just  decided  a  case  of  much  interest  to  this 
vicinity.    As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained  we  give  the  history  of  the  case. 

In  the  year  1683  one  John  Tredwell  was  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of 
land  lying  at  and  about  Milburn  in  this  town.  It  contained  about  2,000  acres 
a  part  of  which  still  remains  in  the  Tredwell  family  to  this  day.  Through  this 
property  runs  a  stream  of  water  which  has  caused  the  litigation.  In  1686  the 
people  of  the  township  granted  to  one  John  Pine  the  privilege  of  selecting  a 
stream  of  water  for  the  purposes  of  erecting  a  grist  mill  to  do  the  town's 
grinding  with  restrictions  not  to  select  a  stream  where  there  was  a  mill  located 
or  about  to  be  erected.  He  was  also  granted  five  acres  to  set  his  mill  upon.  If 
he  failed  to  secure  a  stream  within  one  year  the  grant  became  void. 

Pine  selected  the  stream  at  Milburn  and  built  a  dam,  with  the  assistance 
of  John  Tredwell  on  the  Tredwell  property  which  caused  the  formation  of 
a  large  pond.  This  grant  has  passed  from  one  to  another  until  some  thirty 
years  ago  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Carman  Smith.  Mr.  Smith  then  obtained 
some  sort  of  a  deed  of  pond  and  pondage,  and  assumed  control  although  his 
claim  was  disputed  by  the  Tredwells  and  the  matter  has  lain  dormant  for 
years.  About  four  years  ago  Christopher  Risley  came  to  Milburn  to  reside  at 
the  Tredwell  homestead.  After  examining  titles  he  decided  that  the  Tredwells 
owned  the  dam  and  the  pondage  around  and  all  the  privileges.  He  secured 
from  the  Tredwells  permission  to  go  fishing  on  the  pond.  A  war  of  words 
ensued.  Mr.  Smith  sued  Mr.  Risley  for  trespass  in  Justice  court.  Risley  raised 
the  question  of  title  and  carried  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Judge  Gil- 
bert decided  in  favor  of  Smith.  Risley  appealed  to  the  General  Term  which 
reversed  Judge  Gilbert's  decision.  The  opinion  written  by  Judge  Barnard  was 
that  the  Tredwells  owned  the  pond  and  pondage  and  all  privileges  and  that 
Smith  must  be  governed  by  the  original  grant  to  Pine  to  do  the  town  grinding 
only. 

Mr.  Smith  then  carried  the  case  to  the  Court  of  Appeals  which  again 
decided  against  him  confirming  Judge  Barnard's  opinion  at  General  Term.  Thus 
ended  a  tedious  litigation  by  Mr.  Smith  losing  all  interest  in  the  property  which 
he  has  held  and  controlled  so  long. 

The  pond  has  been  taken  by  the  City  of  Brooklyn  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  the  city  with  water.  All  other  questions  are  to  be  settled  between 
the  Tredwells  and  the  City  of  Brooklyn. 

106 


straight  as  the  stream  above  the  pond,  its  waters  flow  at  least 
three  and  a  half  miles  to  accomplish  this  two  miles.  This 
creek  was  called  Tredwell  Creek  in  the  early  town  records. 

From  the  plain  edge  to  the  pond  this  stream  flowed 
through  a  continuous  forest  of  heavy  timber.  But  a  new  and 
important  factor  is  encountered  here;  the  stream  now  becomes 
subject  to  the  force  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  ocean,  about 
four  miles  distant,  into  which  it  flows. 

Reverting  again  to  the  millpond  or  lake  above  mentioned, 
created  by  the  construction  of  a  causeway  or  dam  at  its  south- 
erly end,  the  structure  being  at  right  angles  to  the  stream  and 
extending  from  high  ground  at  either  extremity  of  the  dam. 
The  dam  was  about  twelve  feet  wide  at  the  top,  with  a  well- 
graded  walk  for  people  on  foot,  and  was  in  early  times  a 
popular  promenade. 

When  a  boy,  in  the  fall  of  about  1835,  on  a  Saturday 
night  after  dark,  my  mother  required  some  things  from  the 
store  kept  by  James  Frost  at  the  Corners  (Milburn).  We 
had  a  man,  a  farmhand  called  Jack.  He  was  mentally  slug- 
gish, but  was  physically  a  perfect  man.  We  were  sent  to  the 
store  to  do  the  shopping  and  Jack  was  to  accompany  us  for 
protection,  it  being  after  dark  and  we  were  afraid  to  go  alone. 
Frost's  store  was  just  on  the  west  side  of  the  pond,  and  we 
were  obliged  to  cross  the  dam.  The  dam  was  a  dark,  dismal 
place  at  night,  being  studded  with  willow  trees  which  entirely 
overhung  the  pathway.  After  purchasing  the  goods  and  on 
our  way  home  Jack  took  into  his  head,  as  soon  as  we  entered 
upon  the  dam,  the  notion  to  run  away  from  us,  thinking  it 
would  be  funny,  and  he  started  at  full  speed,  just  at  a  point 
where  the  dam  was  the  highest  and  sloped  on  the  south  side 
thirty  feet  or  more  to  level  ground.  Jack  struck  a  tree  while 
at  full  speed.  The  blow  knocked  him  down  and  stunned  him, 
and  he  lost  his  hat.  We  felt  about  in  the  sand  for  the  hat,  but 
could  not  find  it,  and  we  went  home  without  it.  Jack's  bruises 
were  rubbed  with  liniment  and  he  sent  to  bed. 

Now  it  happened  that  on  this  same  evening  old  Sam 

107 


Gritman,  an  itinerant  shoemaker,  who  had  been  at  our  house 
at  work  all  the  week  making  up  our  winter  supply  of  shoes, 
had  received  his  pay  from  my  father  for  the  week's  work, 
which  did  not  exceed  four  or  five  dollars,  left  for  home  after 
we  (Jack  and  I)  had  left  for  the  store.  He  had  also  to  cross 
the  dam  on  his  way  home. 

On  the  next  morning,  it  being  Sunday,  Gritman  came  to 
our  house  in  a  shattered  nervous  condition  with  the  sad  story 
of  having  been  waylaid  by  robbers  on  his  way  home  on  the 
dam  on  Saturday  night.  They  knocked  him  down  and  he 
rolled  over  the  bank,  which  probably  saved  his  life,  for  he 
escaped  them.  There  were  two  of  them.  He  heard  them 
talk  and  they  felt  around  in  the  sand  for  him  for  some  time, 
but  he  lay  still  and  they  did  not  find  him.  In  coming  over  Sun- 
day morning  to  tell  of  his  miraculous  escape,  he  stopped  to 
inspect  the  place  where  the  assault  was  made,  and  then  he 
found  the  hat  of  one  of  the  would-be  assassins,  and  produced 
it.  It  was  Jack's  hat,  and  it  told  the  whole  story  of  the  tree 
and  thieves. 

Jack,  instead  of  running  into  a  tree  as  was  supposed,  ran 
into  old  Gritman  and  bruised  him  badly,  but  not  seriously. 

To  resume:  English  ichthyologists  tell  us  there  are  no 
trout  in  this  country;  the  fish  we  call  brook  trout  is  no  trout  at 
all,  but  simply  the  charr.  We  are  satisfied  with  their  nomen- 
clature so  long  as  they  are  pleased  with  it,  but  we  have  no  dis- 
position to  re-baptize  our  radiant  beauty  known  to  us  only  as 
brook  trout,  salvelinus  fountenalis,  with  the  meaningless  and 
emotionless  name  of  charr;  the  name  is  not  euphonious  with 
the  character  of  the  fish. 

They  say  that  the  classification  is  based  on  anatomical  dif- 
ferences of  structure  and  talk  glibly  of  dorsal,  pectoral,  ventral 
and  caudal  fins,  dual  dontiforms,  microscopic  scales,  pylonic 
appendages,  etc.,  but  they  give  away  their  whole  case  and  prove 
too  much  when  they  show  that  age  changes  and  modifies  all 
these  distinctions,  and  that  species  are  extremely  unstable  and 
variable,  and  their  conclusions  consequently  worthless. 

108 


The  hero  of  the  four-pound  trout  above  named  was  an 
expert  fisherman,  with  a  large  experience,  and  he  had  studied 
with  marvelous  success  the  habits  of  the  creek  trout  (which  is 
only  an  intensified  brook  trout)  and  knew  every  hole  in  the 
creek  where  they  frequented,  where  they  fed,  on  what  they 
fed  and  when  they  fed,  and  their  sporting  ground  after  feed- 
ing. 

The  creek  trout  is  a  refractory  creature  and  when  in  one 
of  his  moods  no  amount  of  flirtation  can  woo  him  from  his 
dogged  humor;  it  must  wear  off. 

He  is  a  voracious  feeder,  but  very  nervous,  and  will  not 
feed  when  the  least  affrighted. 

Saturday,  July  7,  1840. 

Vacation  this  year  will  be  spent  at  home.  Have  prepared  myself 
with  reading  matter,  principally  Natural  History.  I  anticipate  great 
pleasure  from  Elements  of  Conchology,  by  E.  I.  Barrow,  A.M.,  Dick's 
Sideral  Heavens,  etc. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  uneventful.  Went  to  White  Hill  to  see 
boat  race  between  Dr.  Richard  Udal's  yacht  of  Babylon  and  Tom  Ray- 
nor's  sloop.  They  sailed  from  White  Hill  to  Fire  Island  Inlet.  Ray- 
nor  was  the  winner. 


109 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Family  Picnic— The  Broom  Factory. — Mr.  Terry's  Invention. — Testi- 
monial TO  Captain  Raynor  Rock  Smith. — The  Famous  Horse  Race. 

Monday.  July  20,   1840. 

AVE  just  returned  from  our  annual  family  picnic  to  the 
beach,  a  custom  observed  by  our  family  for  many  years 
and  many  generations.  As  usual,  had  a  delightful  day 
and  some  happy  reunions.  Uncle  Oliver  Ellsworth  with 
his  family  from  New  York  accompanied  us,  and  with 
whom  the  novel  excursion  was  a  great  treat,  some  of 
whom  will  regret  their  indiscretion  in  going  about  with  arms,  feet  and 
necks  exposed  to  the  burning  sun.  Have  had  a  charming  day;  every- 
body happy,  tired  and  sunburned. 

Saturday/ August  15,  1840. 

Uncle  Daniel  Smith,  father  and  myself  sailed  from  Bedell's  Land- 
ing on  August  tenth  in  the  sloop  "Ploughboy"  for  the  west  end  of 
Coney  Island,  the  occasion  being  to  witness  experiments  to  be  made  with 
the  new  Tredwell  cannon,  in  which  my  father  and  uncle  felt  some  in- 
terest. 

On  the  voyage  we  passed  within  hailing  distance  of  the  great 
Rockaway  Pavilion  at  Far  Rockaway  Beach,  one  of  the  largest  summer 
hotels  in  the  country.  The  main  building  is  230  feet  front,  with  wings 
of  75  feet  each,  the  piazza  is  235  feet  long  and  20  feet  wide. 

After  eleven  hours'  sailing  with  light  winds,  we  rounded  Coney 
Island  Point  and  anchored  in  Gravesend  Bay  near  Coney  Island.  The 
bay  was  filled  with  all  kinds  of  craft. 

We  had  never  been  so  far  from  home  before  by  water.  We  took 
but  little  interest  in  the  cannon  and  consequently  spent  our  time  in 
roaming  over  the  island.  There  were  many  people  who  came  with 
teams,  following  the  edge  of  the  surf  on  the  strand,  and  some  came  on 
foot  from  the  east  end  of  Coney  Island,  but  more  came  in  boats. 

The  beach  was  very  interesting  to  us,  the  scenery  of  which  was 
novel  and  unsurpassed  in  beauty.  The  cannon  was  tested  on  the  point 
of  the  beach,  the  shooting  directed  toward  the  ocean.  We  did  not  see 
the  experiments  with  the  gun,  but  believe  they  were  eminently  satis- 
factory to  the  government  officials  under  whose  supervision  the  ex- 
periments were  conducted.  My  father  and  uncle  were  pleased  with 
the  result. 

Daniel  Tredwell,  the  inventor  of  this  great  cannon,  was 

110 


born  at  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  in  1791.  In  1819  he  in- 
vented and  put  in  operation  the  first  power  press  ever  con- 
structed in  the  United  States.  It  went  into  general  use.  In 
1826  a  turn-out  for  railroads.  In  1829  devised  a  machine 
for  spinning  hemp,  adopted  over  the  world.  In  1835  a  patent 
process  for  making  cannon,  which  was  later  adopted  by  Sir 
William  Armstrong  and  known  as  the  Armstrong  Gun.  He 
founded  and  edited  the  Boston  Journal  of  Philosophy  and 
Arts,  from  1834  to  1845  was  Rumford  Professor  of  Technol- 
ogy in  Harvard  College.  Invented  a  cannon  of  great  calibre. 
He  was  author  of  many  works  and  of  many  inventions.  He 
died  at  Cambridge  in  1872. 

Wednesday,  October  24,    1840. 

Went  to  the  sheep  parting  yesterday.  It  was  remarkably  similar 
to  that  of  last  year  described  in  this  journal — in  short,  like  all  other 
previous  years.  The  same  omnifarious  multitude  with  similar  purposes, 
if  not  identically  the  same,  the  same  grade  of  gamblers  and  toughs. 

There  was  a  decided  improvement  in  the  representatives  of  the 
horse  sporting  crowd,  and  the  racing  on  the  Jericho  Turnpike  road  was 
considered  more  attractive. 

There  was  a  new  and  higher  grade  of  politicians  present.  The 
selling  of  the  plains  and  marshes  were  dead  local  issues,  the  present 
were  national.  In  November  next  there  is  to  be  elected  the  ninth  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States.  The  candidates  were  long  ago  selected, 
Martin  Van  Buren  and  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  the  campaign 
up  to  the  present  has  been  a  vigorous  and  bitter  one.  The  respective 
merits  and  demerits  of  the  two  aspirants  were  ably  and  eloquently  set 
forth  from  their  party  platforms  yesterday. 

We  have  on  a  former  occasion  referred  to  the  absence  of  all  ac- 
commodation at  the  sheep  parting,  nor  was  any  expected.  There  were, 
however,  a  limited  number  of  reserved  seats,  consisting  of  the  top  rails 
of  the  fence  surrounding  the  sheep  pens.  Nothing  on  earth  probably 
as  a  resting  place  has  less  adaptiveness  to  ease  and  comfort  than  a  rail 
fence,  and  yet  two  out  of  every  three  countrymen,  as  a  rostrum  from 
which  to  air  their  brains,  select  the  fence.  We  have  seen  two  of  these 
baronets  of  the  soil  engaged  in  a  cow  trade  mounted  on  the  sharp  edge 
of  a  chestnut  rail  when  there  were  a  dozen  more  comfortable  and  lowly 
seats  in  sight.     This  habit  is  a  survival  of  arborescent  man. 

In  our  itineraries  around  the  grounds  we  espied  a  neighbor  of  ours, 
James  Wood,  a  respectable  boss  fisherman  of  Hick's  Neck  and  a  very 
entertaining  man.  He  always  commanded  an  audience,  and  he  was 
always  telling  stories,  and  here  he  was  perched  upon  the  top  rail  of  a 

111 


panel  of  fence  in  his  shirt  sleeves  (he  weighed  about  260  pounds  avoir- 
dupois), and  holding  forth  to  an  admiring  audience  of  Goths  and  Van- 
dals, to  whom  he  was  relating  a  story  of  a  miraculous  draught  of  moss- 
bunkers. 

In  the  pen  immediately  behind  Mr.  Wood  were  four  or  five  sheep, 
including  an  old  patriarch  ram.  From  the  time  we  entered  upon  the 
scene  our  earliest  glance  at  that  old  ram  convinced  us  from  his  pose 
that  he  was  meditating  mischief,  i.e.,  had  unpacific  intentions.  The  vio- 
lent gyrations  of  Mr.  Wood's  arms  were  a  defiance  and  a  challenge  to 
this  Sultan  of  the  Hempstead  pampas.  Mr.  Wood's  audience  saw  this 
impending  coup  de  grace,  and  they  urged  him  on,  anticipating  fun. 
Finally,  with  that  peculiar  ferocity  and  dash  of  the  ovine  family  when 
going  into  business,  the  old  ram  raised  himself  on  his  hind  feet  and 
made  a  plunge  straight  for  Mr.  Wood's  parts  exposed  over  the  fence, 
and  with  the  momentum  of  a  pile-driver  planted  his  two  horns  into 
Mr.  Wood's  lumbral  regions  about  ten  inches  below  his  gallus  buttons. 
The  blow  was  terrific.  Mr.  Wood  broke  from  his  moorings  and 
landed  ignobly  in  the  rear  part  of  a  booth  occupied  by  a  vendor  of  a 
newly  invented  device  for  peeling  and  slicing  potatoes  and  coring  apples. 
Wood's  friends  crowded  around  him  and  with  the  strongest  attestations 
of  sympathy  got  him  on  his  feet.  Mr.  Wood  was  no  fool.  He  said 
nothing — he  thought.  As  near  as  we  could  ascertain  he  had  sustained 
no  damage  above  the  shock,  and  the  loss  of  his  suspender  buttons. 

Sunday,  November  8,  1840. 

Yesterday  ended  the  brief  Indian  Summer  of  this  year,  only  four 
typical  days.    Today  ends  in  rain,  snow  and  slush  and  getting  colder. 

Friday,  December  4,  1840. 

A  great  snowstorm  now  in  progress,  accompanied  with  a  gale  of 
wind. 

Sunday,  December  6,  1840. 

The  snowstorm  was  one  of  the  severest  and  most  destructive  ever 
known  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  it  was  of  great  extent ;  the  snow 
is  said  to  be  one  and  a  half  feet  deep  in  Philadelphia.  It  averages  about 
one  foot  here,  but  the  storm  closed  here  with  rain.  It  was  very  dam- 
aging to  shipping  along  the  coast. 

A  fishing  crew  from  Hick's  Neck,  consisting  of  five  men,  had  been 
caught  in  the  storm  and  had  not  been  heard  from  for  three  days.  Fears 
were  entertained  for  their  safety,  as  it  was  known  that  they  were  not 
provided  with  provisions  for  a  prolonged  siege.  As  soon,  however,  as 
the  weather  had  sufficiently  cleared,  the  horizon  was  swept  with  a  large 
spy  glass,  when  a  signal  of  distress  was  discovered  flying  over  the  hut 
at  the  Hummocks  on  Long  Beach.  This  was  either  the  missing  crew 
of  fishermen,  or  shipwrecked  sailors  from  the  main  beach.  Immediately 
provisions  were  made  for  rescue  and  a  relief  squad  was  organized  under 

112 


the  direction  of  the  wreck  master,  composed  of  Thomas  Carman,  Mor- 
ton Homan,  Richard  Soper,  Thomas  Dunbar,  Charles  Johnson  and  Jim 
Tom,  to  carry  relief  and  rescue  the  sufferers,  whoever  they  may  be, 
which  resulted  in  bringing  the  fishermen  to  mainland,  the  weather  still 
being  cold  and  boisterous. 

It  seems  that  they  had  lost  their  boat  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
storm  and  had  no  means  of  relief  unless  from  the  mainland.  They 
reached  the  hut  on  Long  Beach  by  fording  the  West  Run  at  low  water. 

Monday,  March  1,   1841. 

Yesterday  closed  a  long  and  uneventful  winter.  The  old  diary  is 
encumbered  with  entries  of  weather  conditions,  daily  school  incidents 
and  events  of  a  purely  personal  character,  none  of  which  are  of  a  suffi- 
cient general  interest  to  entitle  them  to  be  transcribed  in  this  journal. 
This  is  a  bright  day  and  there  are  promises  of  an  early  spring. 

Saturday,  April  10,  1841. 

The  broom  factory  on  Coe's  Neck  is  to  close.  During  the  past 
two  years  Daniel  Smith,  Jr.,  of  Coe's  Neck  has  been  experimenting  upon 
raising  broom  corn.  He  had  erected  an  economical  shop,  or  factory, 
with  small  machinery  for  turning  his  own  sticks  and  making  brooms  on 
the  place,  and  had  also  adopted  means  for  placing  his  goods  on  the 
market  of  Long  Island.  For  the  latter  purpose  he  engaged  two  can- 
vassers to  visit  all  the  country  stores  on  Long  Island.  They  each  started 
out  with  a  two  horse  wagon  load  of  manufactured  brooms,  consisting  of 
twelve  hundred  brooms,  great  and  small,  which  they  were  to  sell  and 
take  orders.  The  enterprise  up  to  the  present  time,  Mr.  Smith  says, 
has  been  a  great  success,  but  he  regrets  that  he  must  give  it  up  in  order 
to  take  charge  of  another  part  of  his  father's  estate. 

This  is  much  to  be  regretted,  for  one  reason,  the  success  of  the  en- 
terprise and  its  growth  promised  to  give  employment  to  quite  a  number 
of  young  people  along  the  whole  line,  from  planting  of  the  corn  to  the 
completion  and  sale  of  the  goods.  No  one  has  come  forth  prepared  to 
make  terms  for  the  continuation  of  the  business. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  for  another  reason.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have 
cheap  brooms  and  plenty  of  them.  We  have  heard  the  opinion  expressed 
that  the  number  of  brooms  used  in  any  community  furnishes  the  surest 
criterion  from  which  to  judge  its  moral  advancement  and  progress,  and 
concerning  the  important  part  which  the  little  insignificant  instrument 
sustains  in  regard  to  domestic  comfort  and  neatness,  the  opinion  may 
be  correct.  According  to  this  standard,  the  inhabitants  of  Coe's  Neck 
and  thereabouts  ought  to  be  in  the  most  advanced  stages  of  moral  de- 
velopment. But  according  to  the  Justice  Court  record  of  Squire  Ben 
Smith,  the  culmination  of  matrimonial  infelicities  in  broomstick  as- 
saults has  increased  two  hundred  per  cent,  since  the  factory  was  es- 
tablished— owing,  as  the  Squire  suggests,  to  the  ever  presence  of  this 
convenient  weapon. 

113 


Friday,  September   10,    1841. 

For  a  number  of  years  past  our  apples  had  been  taken  to  John  I. 
Lott's,  down  at  Hick's  Neck,  to  be  made  into  cider.  This  year  my 
father  had  concluded  to  take  them  to  George  Smith's  at  Raynortown, 
he  having  an  improved  press  for  the  mash  and  a  much  larger  mill,  with 
horse-power  for  grinding.  My  father  thinks  we  will  have  about  four 
barrels  for  this  season. 

Less  and  less  cider  is  being  made  on  this  part  of  Long  Island  every 
year.  Our  orchard  is  getting  old  and  no  efforts  are  being  made  to  re- 
pair it  by  planting  new  trees.  John  L  Lott  formerly  made  a  great 
quantity  of  cider,  but  he  is  now  very  indiflFerent  about  it.  He  says  it 
does  not  pay.  Since  steam  transportation  has  been  introduced  it  can 
be  brought  from  a  distance,  where  it  is  raised  with  less  expense,  and 
the  New  York  market  can  be  supplied  much  cheaper  than  he  can  raise  it. 

Tuesday,  October  5,  1841. 

Night  before  last,  Sunday,  October  3rd,  was  a  wild  night  on  the 
South  Side.  A  storm  broke  upon  us  from  the  southeast  and  east  with 
strong  wind  and  moderate  temperature  and  rain  on  Saturday  morning, 
which  increased  in  severity  until  Sunday  night,  when  it  became  terrific 
from  the  southeast;  the  tide  rose  two  feet  in  our  brook  and  covered  the 
bridge,  part  of  which  floated  away.  Uncle  Daniel  Smith's  crib  and 
wagon  house  were  unroofed  and  some  of  the  shingles  were  found  in  our 
garden,  a  number  of  houses  and  barns  were  blown  down,  chimneys  de- 
molished and  trees  uprooted.  Our  orchard  was  much  damaged  and 
great  quantities  of  fruit  destroyed  everywhere. 

Old  people  say  this  was  the  fiercest  storm  ever  known  on  this  part 
of  the  island,  even  more  destructive  than  the  epochal  September  gale  of 
1833.  The  waters  of  the  ocean  were  blown  three  or  four  miles  inland. 
The  grass,  the  leaves  from  the  trees  and  buildings  are  encrusted  with 
salt,  left  after  evaporation  had  carried  off  the  water. 

Much  damage  was  done  to  the  small  craft  of  the  south  side  of 
Long  Island,  but  we  have  heard  of  no  great  disaster  of  sea-going  ves- 
sels on  the  south  beach,  and  probably  there  were  none;  the  gradual 
growth  of  the  storm  gave  warning  of  its  approach,  with  ample  time  to 
escape,  and  again,  it  did  not  reach  far  out  to  sea. 

P.  S.,  Or/o^er— 1841. 

The  newspapers  from  the  East  are  bringing  in  reports  of  the  won- 
derfully destructive  storm  in  the  Eastern  States;  the  damage  to  the 
shipping  and  loss  of  life  along  the  coast  were  enormous.  Vessels  in  port 
broke  from  their  moorings  and  were  cast  on  shore.  In  the  harbor  of 
Portland,  Maine,  several  vessels  were  completely  wrecked,  and  at  Ports- 
mouth, Cohasset,  Cape  Ann,  Gloucester,  Newburyport  and  Nantucket 
great  damage  was  done  to  shipping,  and  to  the  wharfs,  vast  quantities  of 
lumber  were  carried  away  and  lives  lost. 

The  greatest  loss  of  life,  however,  was  at  Cape  Cod.    The  beach 

114 


from  Chatham  to  the  highlands  was  absolutely  strewn  with  wreckage. 
The  effects  of  this  disastrous  storm  are  still  being  received ;  already  the 
list  of  vessels  lost  numbers  hundreds,  and  of  lives  lost,  thousands. 

No  storm  every  known  in  the  Eastern  States  was  half  so  destruc- 
tive. Long  Island  was  marvelously  favored.  We  have  up  to  the  pres- 
ent heard  of  no  loss  of  life,  and  the  wreck  of  only  a  few  coasters  and 
small  craft. 

In  the  New  England  reports  the  gale  is  described  as  coming  from 
the  north  northeast,  while  on  Long  Island  it  was  from  the  southeast. 

Sunday,  October  10,  1841. 

Reports  continue  to  be  received  by  the  papers  showing  that  the 
above  destructive  storm  was  more  widespread  and  more  ruinous  than 
early  reports  show.  It  w^as  a  storm  long  to  be  remembered  by  Long 
Islanders ;  to  the  New  Englanders  it  was  phenomenal. 

Tuesday,  October  12,    1841. 

It  is  reported  that  this  storm  effected  great  changes  at  New  Inlet. 
The  channel  of  the  inlet  is  said  to  have  moved  westerly  several  hundred 
feet,  and  that  large  bar  of  many  acres  has  formed  inside.  Similar  changes 
are  constantly  taking  place  along  the  south  coast  of  Long  Island,  but  it 
is  seldom  one  storm  works  so  great  innovation  as  this  one. 

Saturday,  November  6,  1841. 

Our  oldest  people  tell  us  that  up  to  the  present  this  has  been  the 
harshest,  most  Inclement  and  blustering  fall  ever  known,  and  It  Is  losing 
none  of  Its  reputation  today. 

It  began  snowing  this  morning  with  a  high  northeast  wind  and  It 
has  alternately  snowed  and  rained  all  day.  The  storm  is  as  full  of  vigor 
as  an  adult  snowstorm  of  February.  This  is  our  Indian  Summer  season, 
but  for  the  two  past  years  It  has  had  a  brief  duration. 

Wednesday,  November  10,   1841. 

Mr.  Daniel  Terry,  a  millwright,  a  neighbor  of  our  family,  lives 
at  Frost's  Corners  and  is  the  miller  at  that  place.  He  is  a  very  in- 
genious man  and  has  been  engaged  many  years  on  a  most  wonderful 
machine  which  Is  to  run  forever,  a  perpetual  motion.  The  people  in  the 
neighborhood  talk  about  It;  nobody  has  ever  seen  It.  The  shop  in  which 
Mr.  Terry  keeps  It  and  works  upon  it  is  in  an  upper  story  of  his  mill 
and  kept  always  locked. 

Today  we  were  permitted  to  see  the  wonderful  machine,  and  it 
is  wonderful.  It  is  elegantly  made,  that  is,  the  mechanism,  the  finish, 
but  we  don't  believe  It  will  run,  and  still  we  think  Mr.  Terry  ought 
to  know  what  he  is  about. 

The  machine  consists  of  an  overshot  water-wheel  with  self-adjust- 
ing buckets.  The  water  which  furnishes  the  power  is  raised  by  an 
Archlmedian  screw  and  after  being  run  over  the  wheel  is  deposited  in 
the  reservoir  below,  from  which  the  screw  again  raises  it.    The  machine 

115 


is  expected  to  run  by  the  gravity  of  the  faUing  water  which  the  machine 
pumps  up;  the  water  is  used  over  and  over  again.  By  a  very  ingenious 
device  the  loaded  buckets  go  down  at  arm's  length  and  on  returning 
discharged  on  the  other,  the  arms  fall  in  close  to  the  central  shaft  so 
that  the  lifting  force  is  greatly  decreased  in  the  up-coming  buckets, 
nearly  nil.  As  soon  as  the  buckets  have  passed  the  centre,  on  top,  they 
drop  out  at  arm's  length  again  and  are  prepared  to  receive  their  freight, 
which  carries  them  down  with  great  force.  There  were  six  buckets 
going  down  loaded  at  the  same  time  and  ten  empty  ones  coming  up. 
Now,  in  order  to  keep  the  machine  going  there  must  be  a  constant  sup- 
ply of  water  to  fill  the  down-going  buckets.  The  water  for  this  pur- 
pose was  drawn  up  by  the  screw  before  named.  The  power  which 
raised  the  water  was  furnished  by  the  down-going  buckets.  Here  lies 
the  great  solecism  overlooked  by  Mr.  Terry,  for  strip  the  machine  of 
all  its  redundance,  cancel  both  sides  of  the  equation  to  its  simplest  form, 
and  we  have  x=^x-\-y,  that  is,  to  raise  the  water  will  require  all  the 
power  generated  by  the  gravity  of  the  same  water,  plus  y,  the  friction. 

It  is  a  very  complicated  piece  of  machinery,  and  although  Mr.  Terry 
did  not  charge  it  and  set  it  in  operation  in  our  presence  for  reasons 
which  were  quite  obvious,  the  machinery  was  not  prepared  for  it;  yet 
he  explained  it  so  clearly  that  we  began  to  think  it  would  run,  but  it 
won't.  It  is  self-evidently  impossible.  We  did  not  tell  Mr.  Terry  so. 
He  was  very  kind  to  permit  us  to  see  the  machine  when  so  many  were 
anxious  to  get  a  glimpse  of  it.  (His  reason  was  that  he  thought  we 
were  a  bright  boy.)  Many  people  in  the  neighborhood  believe  that  Mr. 
Terry  will  some  day  startle  the  world  with  his  great  invention.  But 
we  do  not.  Of  Mr.  Terry's  mill,  every  part,  from  the  water-wheel  to 
the  bolting  bin,  was  made  by  him,  or  under  his  immediate  direction; 
every  cog-wheel  in  the  mill,  concentric  or  eccentric,  was  made  of  wood. 
There  was  not  an  iron  cog-wheel  in  it. 

Perpetual  motion,  as  applied  here,  is  a  machine  to  be 
moved  by  a  power  furnished  within  itself  and  not  from  any 
source  outside  of  it,  and  continues  without  ceasing  and  without 
any  renewed  application  of  force.  It  is  no  part  of  the  requisi- 
tion concerning  perpetual  motion  that  the  machinery  should 
never  get  out  of  repair.  What  is  looked  for  is  not  perfection 
in  the  construction  of  the  apparatus,  but  an  unfailing  moving 
force. 

From  the  day  of  our  visit  to  Mr.  Terry's  and  for  a  long 
period  onwards  our  head  was  full  of  perpetual  motion  ma- 
chines, and  in  our  imagination  we  constructed  hundreds  of 
them  with  one  result :  the  resistance  to  overcome  and  the  power 

116 


to  overcome  It  (so  to  speak)  were  always  equal,  and  the  thing 
stood  still.  But  why  did  not  the  clear  head  of  Mr.  Terry  see 
this?  Because  his  head  was  not  clear;  he  had  great  mental 
activity  without  sound  principles  to  control  it,  and  he  was  a 
better  theoretical  machinist  than  practical  engineer.  He  was 
endeavoring  to  raise  himself  over  the  fence  by  the  straps  of 
his  boots. 

Mr.  Terry  reasoned  that  so  long  as  the  example  was 
before  him  of  a  man  raising  himself  by  a  tackle  and  fall  with- 
out any  outward  application  of  power,  just  so  long  would  he 
entertain  hopes  of  eventually  accomplishing  a  machine  that 
would  do  the  same  thing.  This  is  where  Mr.  Terry's  reason- 
ing is  at  fault;  he  has  left  out  one  important  factor — caloric. 

Mr.  Terry,  however,  was  not  a  unique  dispenser  of  faulty 
logic  on  the  subject;  the  victims  of  the  fallacy  of  perpetual 
motion  are  multitudinous  and  date  from  an  early  period  in  the 
history  of  mechanism.  The  beginning  of  statistics  of  the 
eighteenth  century  is  full  of  them.  There  were  fewer  in  the 
nineteenth  century  and  they  are  not  all  dead  yet,  many  prob- 
ably not  so  far  gone  but  they  may  be  saved. 

From  1860  to  1869  there  were  eighty-six  English,  twenty- 
three  French  and  thirteen  American  patents  taken  out  for 
perpetual  motion. 

But  on  the  whole,  the  pursuit  of  perpetual  motion  may 
have  been  a  benefit  to  the  world  at  large ;  many  important  dis- 
coveries in  mechanics  have  been  worked  out  just  as  the  falla- 
ciousness of  perpetual  motion  was  discovered.  The  sewing 
machine,  the  typewriter  and  the  bicycle  all  carry  improvements 
made  by  the  perpetual  motion  crank.  This  mechanical  sole- 
cism, however,  has  its  parallels  in  the  intellectual  world,  as 
Judicial  Astrology,  the  Philosopher's  Stone,  the  Quadrature 
of  the  Circle,  the  Multiplication  of  the  Cube,  and  the  Elixir 
of  Life.  These  have  all  had,  and  ruined,  their  victims  by 
tens  of  thousands.  Nearly  one  hundred  years  ago  the  Aca- 
demic Royal  des  Sciences  at  Paris  passed  a  resolution  that  they 
would  no  longer  entertain  communications  about  discoveries 

117 


of  perpetual  motion,  and  the  reasons  given  were  at  some  length 
and  may  be  summed  up:     "The  thing  can't  be  did." 

One  of  the  most  novel  expositions  that  could  be  offered 
to  the  public  of  mechanical  proneness  would  be  a  collection  of 
machines  constructed  for  perpetual  motion.  It  would  be  an 
exhibition  of  the  utterest  stillness,  and  deadest  immobility,  a 
show  of  labyrinthian  structures  to  run  eternally,  all  absolutely 
motionless. 

Mr.  Terry  was  not  only  not  alone  in  his  mental  halluci- 
nations, millions  of  dollars  have  been  expended  in  the  hope- 
less experiment  of  perpetual  motion.  Thousands  of  the  acutest 
minds  the  world  has  ever  produced  have  logically  demonstrated 
the  feasibility  of  all  this.  Yet,  as  a  product  of  human  inge- 
nuity not  even  the  remotest  approximation  to  success  has  been 
experimentally  accomplished,  for  while  it  may  be  logically  true, 
it  is  experimentally  false.  We  may  reason  about  it,  speculate 
objectively  and  subjectively  about  it,  for  imaginary  things  are 
as  capable  of  being  represented  in  thought  as  real  ones.  And 
we  may  also  predicate  of  it  from  certain  premise  that  when  once 
put  in  motion  it  will  continue  forever.  And  notwithstanding 
all  this,  the  moment  we  apply  the  empirical  method,  or  what  is 
actually  known  about  it,  it  declines  to  ratify  our  abstractions  in 
refusing  to  go  after  exhausting  the  force  which  first  set  it  in 
motion. 

I  have  examined  hundreds  of  these  elegant  specimens  of 
mechanism,  ingenious  contrivances,  every  one  of  which  is  a 
mechanical  syllogism  with  a  defective  major  premise.  And 
hundreds  of  men  who  fancied  they  had  made  great  physical 
discoveries  have  come  to  their  senses  by  discovering  that  they 
have  committed  great  mechanical  blunders. 

Mr.  Terry  was  the  projector  of  many  very  important 
improvements  in  mill  machinery.  He  was  always  at  work  on 
something  new.  As  early  as  1839  he  had  a  boat  about  four- 
teen feet  long  in  the  mill  pond  to  which  he  had  attached  a  novel 
motor  power.  On  the  outside  of  the  boat  he  had  rigged  a 
screw  (Archimedian  screw)  about  five  feet  long  and  attached 

118 


to  each  side  of  the  boat  under  water.  The  screw  was  con- 
structed of  an  iron  rod  or  tube  about  ^ve  feet  long  and  a 
strip  of  sheet  iron  about  five  inches  wide,  twisted  spirally 
around  it,  making  a  screw.  This  iron  rod  communicated  with 
machinery  on  the  inside  of  the  boat  by  an  endless  chain.  The 
whole  was  set  in  motion  by  a  crank.  We  think  this  was  a 
great  success,  but  we  do  not  remember  of  ever  having  heard 
more  about  it.  The  boat  moved  with  ease  and  with  great 
rapidity,  and  was  a  great  curiosity  in  the  pond  for  a  long 
time,  and  unless  there  is  more  to  be  learned  adversely  upon 
this  question,  we  think  Mr.  Terry  should  be  accredited  with 
having  discovered  and  first  applied  successfully  the  screw  for 
the  propulsion  of  boats,  or  vessels.  Captain  John  Ericssen 
made  a  successful  application  of  the  screw  in  1844-1847  to 
the  "Rattler,"  a  vessel  built  in  the  United  States.  But  I  be- 
lieve Mr.  Terry  was  the  real  discoverer  of  the  screw  pro- 
peller. 

Up  to  1855  the  screw  had  not  been  adopted  for  men-of- 
war.  The  French  were  constructing  two  or  three  experimental 
vessels.  Great  interest  was  excited  on  this  subject  both  here 
and  in  Europe.  The  ablest  naval  constructors  and  engineers 
had  determined  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  obtain  more 
than  ten  knots  an  hour  as  an  extreme  figure,  under  which  cir- 
cumstances the  propeller  would  be  of  very  problematical  util- 
ity. And  the  "Austerlitz,"  then  being  equipped  as  a  propeller 
at  Rochefort,  it  was  hoped  would  be  enabled  to  compass  four 
or  five  knots  an  hour  under  steam. 

The  history  of  the  manifold  improvements  and  develop- 
ment of  the  screw  as  a  propeller  is  not  within  our  province, 
but  it  has  undoubtedly  revolutionized  the  entire  method  in 
maritime  science,  with  the  limit  not  yet  reached,  nor  the  ulti- 
mate in  view. 

Monday  J  January  10,  1842. 

We  called  upon  Raynor  Rock  Smith  of  Raynortown  to  have  him 
verify  to  us  some  straggling  facts  which  our  memory  imperfectly  re- 

119 


tafned  concerning  a  testimonial  presented  to  him  by  the  citizens  of  New 
York  on  an  occasion,  the  facts  of  which  are  as  follows: 

On  January  2,  1837,  the  barque  "Mexico,"  300  tons  burden,  came 
ashore  at  Long  Beach.  She  had  on  board  one  hundred  and  twelve 
passengers  and  a  crew  of  eighteen,  all  of  whom  perished  in  the  wreck 
save  eight.  No  relation  of  the  details  of  that  sad,  sad  story  will  be 
recounted  here;  they  are  matters  of  history.  Our  purpose  is  the  pre- 
servation of  a  subsequent  event  bearing  upon,  or  a  sequence  to,  the 
great  calamity,  which  event  reflected  with  much  credit  and  honor  upon 
a  neighbor,  the  most  modest  and  unassuming  man  that  ever  lived.  The 
unparalleled  heroism  displayed  by  Raynor  Rock  in  his  efEorts  to  save 
the  lives  of  the  unfortunate  passengers  and  crew  of  the  barque  "Mexico" 
at  the  risk  of  his  own  life.  He,  commanding  one  of  the  bravest  crews 
that  ever  manned  a  surf  boat,  will  be  immortalized  in  the  history  and 
records  of  the  great  disasters  of  the  Long  Island  coast. 

No  shipwreck  and  suffering  that  ever  happened  on  the  south  shores 
of  Long  Island  has  made  such  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon  the 
sympathies  of  the  native  population  of  Hempstead  South  as  did  this 
disaster  to  the  passengers  and  crew  of  the  "Mexico."  The  sorrow 
was  sincere  and  universal. 

We  remember  the  event  of  the  wreck  of  the  "Mexico"  and  "Bris- 
tol" with  great  distinctness.  We  remember  seeing  the  bodies  of  the 
drowned  and  frozen  brought  from  the  beach  in  sleds  and  placed  in  rows 
in  John  Lott's  barn  for  the  identification  of  friends  and  relatives.  We 
remember  the  funeral,  consisting  of  fifty-two  farm  wagons  carrying  the 
jboxes  containing  the  bodies  of  the  unclaimed  dead.    It  was  a  sad  sight. 

Everybody  here  knows  Raynor  Rock  Smith  and  all  are  familiar 
with  the  many  brave  and  noble  acts  in  the  service  of  humanity  accredited 
to  him.  But  in  his  superhuman  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  passengers  and 
crew  of  the  ill-fated  "Mexico"  his  fame  reached  beyond  his  immediate 
neighborhood;  his  efforts  affected  the  state  and  the  nation.  Citizens  of 
New  York  City  saw  this,  and  hence  this  public  recognition. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1837,  less  than  three  months  after  the 
"Mexico"  calamity  and  less  than  two  months  after  the  entombment 
of  the  victims  at  Rockville  Centre,  a  committee  of  gentlemen  from  the 
City  of  New  York,  composed  of  William  J.  Hawes,  Joseph  Meeks, 
John  Horspool,  Lawrence  Ackerman,  William  Kellogg  and  Benjamin 
Ringold,  met  Raynor  Rock  and  his  friends  by  appointment  at  the  hotel 
of  Oliver  Conklin  in  Hempstead  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  him, 
Raynor  Rock,  with  a  token  of  regard  (a  silver  tankard)  in  commemora- 
tion of  his  services  to  humanity. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  committee  from  New  York 
arrived,  and  the  presentation  took  place  in  the  hall  of  the  hotel  in  pres- 
ence of  a  large  audience  of  New  Yorkers,  South  Siders  and  many  vil- 
lagers. 

While  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  committee  and  at  the  personal 

120 


request  of  a  friend  of  Captain  Nathan  Holdridge  and  the  audience,  Mr. 
Smith  recounted  in  detail  the  rescue  of  Captain  Holdridge  from  death. 
The  story  was  intensely  interesting,  rehearsing  minutely  all  that  tran- 
spired for  over  half  an  hour  while  he  struggled  alternately  in  a  tem- 
pestuous surf  for  his  own  life  and  in  keeping  the  unconscious  captain 
from  drowning,  and  finally  getting  him  on  the  beach  and  in  working  all 
night  to  revive  him.  It  was  a  plain,  simple  story  of  self-devotion  to 
an  unfortunate  human  being,  told  without  adornment,  flowing  with  the 
enthusiasm  and  eloquence  of  nature.  This  was  long  prior  to  the  wreck 
of  the  "Mexico." 

On  the  arrival  of  the  committee  the  meeting  was  called  to  order 
and  organized  by  the  appointment  of  John  Simonson  to  the  chair.  The 
object  of  the  call  was  read,  when  William  J.  Hawes  delivered  the  fol- 
lowing address  in  presenting  the  cup: 

''Mr.  Chairman,  Citizens  of  Hempstead,"  and  turning  to  Raynor 
Smith,  said: 

"We  are  a  committee  appointed  by  the  citizens  of  the  Fifth  Ward 
"of  the  City  of  New  York  to  discharge  the  difficult  task  of  expressing 
"to  you  their  admiration  of  your  chivalrous  attempt  to  rescue  the  pas- 
"sengers  and  crew  of  the  barque  'Mexico,*  lately  stranded  on  the  adja- 
"cent  beach,  and  to  ask  your  acceptance  of  a  trifling  token  of  their  re- 
"gard  for  your  intrepidity. 

"You,  sir,  cannot  have  forgotten  the  terrors  of  that  distressed 
"wreck,  nor  is  it  possible  for  us  not  to  remember  how  nobly  you  and 
"your  gallant  associates  adorned  humanity  in  your  life  struggle  with 
"the  elements,  and  how  well  you  redeemed  our  coast  from  the  ignominy 
"of  inhospitality. 

"Having  awaited  in  vain  for  the  recognition  of  your  services  in  a 
"more  general  and  distinguished  manner,  we  have  felt  that  we  owe  it  to 
"our  city,  to  the  credit  of  our  state  and  country,  so  far  as  in  our  power 
"lies,  to  express  to  you  the  sentiments  we  entertain  of  your  perilous  ad- 
"venture.  We  cannot  forget  the  morning  of  that  eventful  day,  when  the 
"weary  'Mexico,'  with  an  insufficient  and  mutinous  crew,  doomed  to 
"avoidable  destruction,  poured  out  her  signal  gun  of  distress  among 
"the  breakers  of  Long  Island;  when  mothers  and  sisters  and  rough 
"sailors  stretched  imploring  hands  to  the  shore  and  screamed  unavailing 
"prayers  to  Him  who  rules  the  storm;  when,  as  if  to  turn  into  mockery 
"the  attempt  to  save  the  predestined  ship,  violence  was  given  to  the 
"winds  and  fury  to  the  waves,  and  builded  between  the  vessel  and  the 
"shore  a  wall  of  floating  ice,  which  scarce  even  hope  itself  could  strug- 
"gle  to  surmount. 

"Who  that  saw  the  scene — the  lingering  death  of  a  hundred  mar- 
"tyrs  to  cold  and  hunger  and  hope  disappointed,  freezing  in  the  sight 
"of  comfortable  hearths,  starving  in  the  view  of  abundance,  despairing 
"in  the  midst  of  promise!  I  cannot  attempt  to  paint  a  description  of 
"that  day  and  night  of  horror!     It  was  amid  the  terrors  of  such  a 

Q  121 


"scene,  when  the  boldest  and  skilfullest  stood  upon  the  beach  in  doubt 
"and  dismay  and  awe,  that  in  risking  everything  but  honor  and  the 
"plaudits  of  the  humane,  your  sole  adventurous  skifE  struggled  through 
"the  resisting  ice  and  climbed  the  overwhelming  mountains  of  surf,  and 
"sought  to  bring  salvation  to  the  perishing  wretches,  who  ought  to  have 
"expected  you  rather  as  a  fellow  sufferer  than  a  saviour.  What  heaven 
"denied  to  their  prayers  it  seemed  willing  to  grant  to  your  courage. 
"Eight  souls  live  to  pray  for  the  future  reward  of  your  exertions.  The 
"rest  cold  death  claimed  for  his  portion. 

"The  city  knows  the  fact,  the  commercial  and  Christian  world 
"knows  the  fact,  and  the  press  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country 
"have  heralded  your  heroism  and  hazardous  endeavors.  We  propose 
"a  simple  but  more  tangible  and  lasting  testimonial  that  you  and  your 
"children  may  contemplate  with  pride.  Such  conduct  has  in  other 
"countries  gained  for  less  daring  heroes  the  reward  of  civic  crowns  and 
"national  honors.  He  who  saved  the  life  of  a  Roman  was  honored  with 
*^SL  seat  next  to  the  Senate,  and  public  assemblies,  when  he  entered,  rose 
"to  do  him  reverence.  These  rewards  we  cannot  give  you.  But  such 
"as  your  fellow  countrymen  can  give,  of  gratitude  to  one  who  has  ren- 
"dered  honor  to  the  state,  such  we  bestow.  These  we  yield,  these  we 
"bring  in  tribute,  that  your  children  and  the  children  of  your  brave 
"boys  may  not  complain  that  Americans  cannot  appreciate  acts  of  de- 
"votion  and  danger,  and  that  your  distant  posterity  may  have  preserved 
"among  them  a  glorious  example  of  their  ancestor.  We  have  caused  a 
"skilful  artist  to  engrave  upon  silver  a  faint  sketch  of  your  achievement. 
"Upon  this  cup,  which  I  now  tender  to  your  acceptance,  is  embossed  the 
"story  of  the  ill-fated  'Mexico'  and  the  glory  of  Raynor  Rock  Smith. 
"It  is  but  a  sketch,  for  the  labors  of  the  artist,  however  successful,  can 
"initiate  only  the  prominent  features  of  the  scene.  ...  In  tender- 
"ing  to  you,  sir,  this  token  of  our  regard,  we  do  not  expect  greatly  to 
"add  to  your  honor,  nor  to  increase  the  esteem  in  which  you  must  be 
"held  by  every  man  who  appreciates  virtuous  heroism.  It  is  perhaps 
"more  as  a  relief  to  our  own  hearts  than  as  a  sufficient  tribute  to  your 
"merits  that  we  bring  our  offering.  Justice  to  ourselves  requires  us, 
"nevertheless,  to  say  it  is  not  a  mere  impulse,  not  an  emotion  springing 
"from  the  first  impression  produced  by  the  performance  of  a  good  ac- 
"tion,  that  has  prompted  this  expression  of  our  feelings.  The  memorial 
"has  been  considered.  The  worthiness  of  your  conduct  has  been 
"weighed.  It  is  from  deliberate  justice,  as  well  as  from  glowing  ad- 
"miration,  that  our  tribute  springs.     .     .     . 

"Permit  me  now,  in  conclusion,  to  express  the  gratification  which 
"I  personally  feel  in  being  the  organ  of  expression  of  the  sentiments 
"of  our  constituents.  None  can  know  better  than  I  know  how  well  the 
"tribute  is  bestowed.  I  have  had  the  enjoyment  of  your  acquaintance 
"for  many  years  and  have  witnessed  more  than  one  instance  of  your 
"skill  and  courage.    I  have  partaken  of  your  hospitality  in  the  islands  of 

122 


"the  sea  and  have  had  good  occasion  to  commend  the  staunchness  of 
"your  surf  boat.  But  there  lives  another  worthy  citizen  who  will  com- 
"mend  more  than  I  know  how  to  do  the  intrepidity  which  is  the  theme 
"of  our  present  praise.  Years  since,  at  the  imminent  peril  of  your  own 
"life,  you  rescued  Captain  Nathan  Holdridge  from  the  surf  and  re- 
"called  him  from  the  jaws  of  death  back  to  grateful  life.  For  him  and 
"for  all  the  other  lives  you  have  saved  to  the  republic,  we  thank  you. 
"And  we  pray  that  your  valuable  life  may  long  be  spared,  if  not  to  act 
"in  future  cases  of  distress,  to  teach  and  encourage  your  sons  and 
"grandsons  how  to  earn  esteem  on  earth  and  a  worthy  welcome  into 
"heaven." 

To  which  Mr.  Smith  replied: 
"Gentlemen  : 

"I  thank  you,  I  sincerely  thank  you  for  your  gift.  In  return  for  it 
"I  can  only  say  that  should  a  similar  wreck,  or  any  other  wreck,  ever 
"again  occur  on  our  shores,  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  I  deserve  it. 
"I  shall  preserve  your  gift.  I  shall  value  it  above  all  price.  It  shall 
"remain  with  me  while  I  live,  and  when  I  die  it  shall  not  go  out  of  my 
"family,  if  I  can  help  it." 

A  simple  entertainment  was  then  had  prepared  by  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Smith,  in  which  only  about  thirty  participated.  This  highly  com- 
mendable act  of  private  citizens  in  recognition  of  the  humane  and  heroic 
act  of  Raynor  Rock  Smith  had  a  salutary  effect  upon  the  community 
and  led  to  the  incorporation  of  the  "Life  Saving  Benevolent  Associa- 
tion." This  society  has  been  of  incalculable  service  in  life  saving  on  the 
•south  shores  of  Long  Island,  not  that  it  has  increased  the  number  of 
those  heroic  and  humane  people  who  have  always  been  ready  to  hazard 
their  own  lives  to  relieve  distress,  but  that  such  acts  were  through  this 
Association  given  to  the  public.  One  noted  case  of  many  is  that  of  Pat- 
rick T.  Gould,  who  received  a  gold  medal  from  that  Association  for 
courage  and  humanity  in  saving  the  lives  of  the  crew  of  the  brig  "Flying 
Cloud,"  wrecked  at  East  Hampton,   Long  Island. 

We  must  forego  the  pleasure  of  recording  many  notable  instances 
of  life  saving  which,  besides  courage,  displayed  a  vast  knowledge  of  how 
to  act  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  surf  on  the  Long  Island  coast. 

Tuesday.  May  10,  1842. 

Having  a  leave  of  absence  today,  we  attended  the  great  contest  be- 
tween "Fashion"  and  "Boston,"  two  horses  reared  under  methods  re- 
spectively Northern  and  Southern. 

It  was  never  our  fortune  to  see  so  many  people  gathered  on  any  one 
occasion  as  were  massed  at  the  Union  Race  Course,  Long  Island,  today. 
This  great  event  was  the  outcome  of  a  challenge  from  Colonel  William 
R.  Johnson,  a  Southern  man,  a  Nestor  of  the  sporting  world  of  Amer- 
ica, to  James  Long,  of  Washington,  to  run  his  mare,  "Fashion,"  four- 
mile  heats,  best  two  in  three,  against  the  latter's  horse,  "Boston,"  for 

123 


forty  thousand  dollars,  twenty  thousand  a  side,  to  be  run  on  the  Union 
Course,  Long  Island. 

The  number  of  spectators  who  witnessed  this  great  trial  of  speed 
was  estimated  at  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand,  gathered  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States. 

The  day  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  the  track  in  good  con- 
dition. All  efforts  to  describe  the  enthusiasm  of  the  partisans  in  this 
great  contest  would  be  absolutely  useless. 

The  race  was  won  by  Johnson's  mare,  "Fashion."  Time,  first 
heat,  7  minutes,  31^  seconds;  second  heat,  7  minutes,  45  seconds. 

This  was  the  second  great  race  between  the  North  and  South,  a 
former  having  taken  place  in  1823. 

There  had  been  much  contention  between  Northern  and  Southern 
breeders  in  bringing  up  and  training  blooded  horses  for  best  results. 
These  sectional  experts  differed  on  many  points,  and  hence  this  great 
meeting. 

The  amount  of  money  which  changed  owners  on  this  day  at  the 
Union  Track  and  other  places  consequent  upon  this  contest  must  have 
been  enormous.  It  ran  probably  up  into  hundreds  of  thousands.  It 
was  also  a  harvest  for  the  land-sharks;  some  of  the  most  enterprising 
of  the  light-fingered  professionals  may  retire  on  the  earnings  of  this 
day.  They  operated  in  gangs  and  on  lines  entirely  circumventing  the 
efforts  of  the  constabulary  of  Queens  County. 

Thursday,  May  12,  1842. 

The  people  of  the  Town  of  Hempstead  have  been  greatly  exercised 
over  a  proposed  canal,  extending  from  deep  water  on  the  Hempstead 
Bay  to  Milburn.  The  subject  has  been  much  discussed  and  the  Gov- 
ernment has  made  preliminary  surveys  from  the  head  of  Long  Creek 
to  the  Milburn  corners.  An  enterprise  of  this  character  would  vastly 
improve  the  commerce  of  the  town  and  build  up  an  important  business 
center  at  Milburn. 


124 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Crows. — The  Millerite  Camp-Meeting. 
Sunday,  May  15,  1842. 

|E  are  taking  these  notes  from  the  open  door  of  the  second 
story  of  the  wagon-house,  while  watching  the  movements 
of  a  flock  of  crows.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  house  a  crow  is  perched  upon  the  summit  of  a 
locust  tree,  on  the  highest  dry  branch.  His  pose  is  ma- 
jestic. His  companions,  seven  in  number,  are  upon  the 
ground.  That  this  one  crow  is  placed  there  as  a  sentinel  to  give  warn- 
ing of  approaching  danger  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  A  man 
crossing  an  adjoining  field  four  hundred  yards  away  was  deemed  sus- 
picious and  the  "ka-ka"  comes  from  the  top  of  the  locust.  In  an  instant 
the  crows  are  on  the  wing;  they  settle  in  a  near  woods,  and  in  a  few 
moments  the  danger  seemed  to  have  passed,  they  return  and  the  sen- 
tinel again  takes  his  station,  and  the  crows  resume  their  meal. 

That  sentinel  crow  has  watched  us  scrutinizingly  as  we  have  him, 
and  taken  as  copious  notes,  but  so  long  as  we  remain  up  in  the  wagon- 
house  he  will  not  become  suspicious  of  us. 

The  movement  of  these  crows  is  an  interesting  study,  and  we 
watched  them  until  they  had  gleaned  their  breakfast  on  the  stubble  and 
cornfield  and  flew  away.  Nothing  gathered  from  this  interview  would 
go  to  change  our  long  established  conviction  that  the  crow  is  a  criminal, 
and  he  knows  it.  Man  is  his  enemy,  and  he  knows  it.  A  crow  don't 
loaf  around  a  cornfield  with  a  picket  guard  for  fun,  nor  for  exercise. 
The  vacant  corn  hills  when  the  young  sprouts  begin  to  appear  attest  to 
his  thrift,  but  he  is  wily;  he  takes  a  minimum  number  of  chances,  and 
those  are  when  his  wit  fails.  He  does  not  know  the  significance  of  a 
piece  of  bright  tin  fluttering  from  the  end  of  a  pole  in  a  cornfield,  and 
he  gives  it  a  wide  berth.  He  has  familiarized  himself  with  the  straw 
effigy  of  a  man  set  up  in  a  cornfield.  He  knows  the  difference  between 
the  stick  the  man  holds  and  a  real  gun,  and  he  commits  his  depredations 
under  the  very  shadow  of  it.  The  man  image  is  a  physical  fraud  and  he 
has  demonstrated  it,  but  the  fluttering  tin  is  metaphysical ;  his  logic  will 
not  explain  it ;  therefore  he  avoids  it. 

The  crow  is  a  philosopher  and  a  logician.  The  depth  of  his  philos- 
ophy or  the  soundness  of  his  logic  we  need  not  here  go  into;  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  preserve  to  him  a  whole  skin.  He  is  a  sound  reasoner  so  far 
as  applicable  to  his  personal  safety.  If  you  betray  the  least  interest  in 
him  he  construes  it  into  intended  mischief.  He  will  sometimes  permit 
you  to  approach  near  him,  providing  you  appear  indifferent  to  him,  but 

125 


the  moment  you  betray  the  least  interest  in  him  he  becomes  suspicious 
and  seeks  safety  in  flight. 

Tuesday,  June  7,  1842. 

The  apology  for  retaining  the  following  in  the  journal  is  that 
some  of  the  events  connect  the  famous  criminal  with  Hempstead : 

Colonel  Monroe  Edwards,  otherwise  I.  P.  Caldwell,  under  which 
title  he  operated,  was  brought  to  trial  in  the  City  of  New  York  before 
presiding  Judge  William  Kent,  Aldermen  Hall  and  Hatfield,  for  forgery 
and  other  frauds.  His  operations  involved  an  amount  exceeding 
$160,000. 

Monroe  Edwards  had  formerly  been  a  prominent  figure  during  the 
summer  season  in  the  Village  of  Hempstead,  and  was  highly  respected 
there  for  his  social  and  charitable  qualities.  He  entertained  a  great 
affection  for  sport  in  the  South  Bay;  hence  the  great  interest  taken  in 
the  trial  by  Hempstead  people  who  knew  him  personally.  Many  at- 
tended through  the  entire  trial,  which  lasted  eight  days. 

We  attended  with  my  Uncle  Oliver  Ellsworth,  who  was  attracted 
there  by  the  great  men  engaged  in  the  case,  and  he  believed  that  Ed- 
wards was  the  subject  of  a  conspiracy. 

The  fraud  committed  by  Edwards  consisted  in  forging  checks  and 
commercial  paper,  in  which  he  displayed  a  consummate  knowledge 
and  adroitness,  far  transcending  that  of  the  ordinary  criminal,  embrac- 
ing a  labyrinthian  field  of  false  and  forged  correspondence. 

In  social  life  Edwards  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  attractiveness, 
of  faultless  personal  address,  and  all  who  knew  him  personally  believed 
in  his  innocence  to  the  last. 

A  great  amount  of  legal  talent  was  arrayed  on  this  trial.  For  the 
prosecution  were  James  R.  Whitney,  District  Attorney,  assisted  by  Hon. 
Ogden  Hoffman,  and  for  the  defense  Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden,  U.  S. 
Senator,  Hon.  Thomas  F.  Marshall,  I.  Prescott  Hall,  Robert  M.  Em- 
mett,  William  M.  Price  and  William  M.  Evarts.  Up  to  this  period  of 
our  history,  in  the  following  respects — the  amount  involved — the  high 
status  of  the  court — the  legal  talent  on  both  the  prosecution  and  the 
defense,  and  the  social  standing  of  the  defendant — this  was  the  most 
extraordinary  criminal  trial  ever  had,  or  probably  ever  will  be  had  in 
this  state;  such  a  combination  is  not  likely  to  ever  occur  again  in  any 
single  trial. 

Those  who  witnessed  the  trial  have  pronounced  it  one  of  the  most 
consummate  exhibitions  of  legal  sparring  ever  known,  and  the  eloquence 
of  the  summing  up  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  present. 

The  trial  occupied  eight  days.  The  appeals  to  the  jury 
were  masterpieces  of  the  highest  order.  Edwards,  however, 
was  found  guilty,  convicted,  and  died  in  State  prison.  There 
was  a  pamphlet  published  of  this  trial,  which  (trial)  was  re- 

126 


markable  for  the  dignified  manner  in  which  a  desperate  case 
was  handled. 

Mrs.  Chapman  Coleman,  daughter  of  John  J.  Critten- 
den, in  her  life  of  her  father  says:  "In  1868,  I  was  in  Wash- 
ington and  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Evarts,  then  Attorney-Gen- 
eral of  the  United  States.  I  was  introduced  as  the  daughter  of 
John  J.  Crittenden,  and  I  received  from  Mr.  Evarts  a  cordial 
grasp  of  the  hand  and  a  touching  allusion  to  my  father's  pub- 
lic character  and  private  worth.  I  told  him  that  I  was  collect- 
ing materials  for  the  life  of  Mr.  Crittenden  and  asked  his  as- 
sistance. This  he  readily  promised.  Mr.  Evarts  at  that  time 
told  me  this  anecdote: 

"  'At  the  very  outset  of  my  professional  career,  I  was 
associated  with  Mr.  Crittenden  as  counsel  in  the  famous  trial 
of  Monroe  Edwards  for  forgery.  (Monroe  Edwards  was  a 
Kentuckian.  His  parents  lived  in  Logan  County,  where  he 
was  born  and  where  Mr.  Crittenden  commenced  the  practice 
of  law.  Mr.  Edwards'  family  were  among  Mr.  Crittenden's 
most  intimate  friends,  and  Monroe  had  been,  in  boyhood,  one 
of  his  special  favorites.  Mr.  Crittenden  came  forward  to  ex- 
ert his  best  abilities  in  the  service  of  his  old  friend.) 

"  'Mrs.  Coleman,'  said  Mr.  Evarts,  'I  shall  never  forget 
that  trial  in  connection  with  your  father.  I  was  a  young  man 
on  the  threshold  of  my  professional  career,  and  your  father's 
reputation  was  firmly  and  widely  established  as  a  lawyer  and 
a  statesman.  His  cordial  manner  during  the  trial  is  most 
gratefully  remembered  by  me,  and  at  its  close  he  asked  me  to 
take  a  walk  with  him.  During  that  walk  he  took  a  slight  re- 
view of  the  trial,  complimented  me  upon  my  course  during 
its  progress  and  the  ability  he  was  pleased  to  think  I  had 
manifested,  and  in  conclusion,  grasping  my  hand  with  warmth, 
he  said:  "Allow  me  to  congratulate  and  encourage  you  on 
the  course  of  life  you  have  adopted.  I  assure  you  that  the 
highest  honors  of  the  profession  are  within  your  grasp,  and 
with  perseverance  you  may  expect  to  attain  them."  Those 
words  from  Mr.  Crittenden  would  have  gratified  the  pride  of 

127 


any  young  lawyer  and  given  him  new  strength  for  the  strug- 
gle of  his  profession.  I  can  truly  say  that  these  words  have 
been  of  the  greatest  value  to  me  through  life.'  " 

Sunday,  July   10,   1842. 

Today  is  the  ninth  consecutive  day  in  which  we  have  had  rain. 
We  don't  remember  so  long  a  spell  of  rainy  weather;  our  enduring 
storms  are  usually  from  the  south,  but  during  the  last  nine  days  we 
have  had  but  little  southerly  wind.  Reports  from  the  northern  and 
western  parts  of  the  state  bring  accounts  of  similar  weather.  V^ast 
quantities  of  hay  have  been  ruined,  having  been  cut  and  no  weather  to 
cure  it  and  get  it  in.  A  famine  for  our  stock  is  prophesied  therefore 
next  winter. 

Tuesday,  July  26,  1842. 

Went  yesterday  on  our  annual  family  picnic  to  Long  Beach.  We 
were  conveyed  from  the  landing  in  the  small  boats  of  Daniel  Smith, 
Samuel  Tredwell  and  Daniel  Tredwell  to  the  head  of  Long  Creek, 
where  we  embarked  on  a  large  sloop  belonging  to  Daniel  Smith.  The 
company  consisted  of  the  families  of  Thomas  Tredwell,  John  Tred- 
well, Daniel  Tredwell,  Samuel  Tredwell,  Benjamin  Tredwell,  Daniel 
Smith  and  Lester  Bedell,  consisting  of  fifty-one  persons,  representing 
three  generations.  We  sailed  down  Long  Creek  to  the  beach,  where  we 
arrived  at  9.30  o'clock  and  moored  the  sloop  in  deep  water  close  to  the 
})ank,  where  we  could  walk  to  the  shore  on  a  gangplank.  We  roamed 
over  the  beach,  bathed  in  the  surf  and  swam  in  the  still  water.  Some 
of  our  party  gathered  clams  for  a  clambake.  Everybody  was  enjoying 
himself  generally.  Dinner,  which  had  been  provided  by  each  family, 
was  served  in  common  on  the  deck  of  the  sloop  under  shelter  of  the 
mainsail  spread  over  the  deck  as  an  awning.  The  dinner  was  the  great 
feature  of  the  day.  All  kinds  of  good  things  had  been  prepared  and 
everybody  had  a  good  appetite.  Cheer  after  cheer  went  up  as  dish  after 
dish  of  chicken  salad  and  pan  after  pan  of  baked  beans  were  brought 
upon  the  table. 

After  dinner  we  took  another  stroll  on  the  beach  and  at  six  o'clock 
got  under  way  for  home  with  the  early  flood.  The  sail  home  was  de- 
lightful, and  we  ventured  outside  New  Inlet  until  we  felt  the  ocean 
ground  swell;  when  some  of  the  women  complained  of  sea  sickness, 
we  returned. 

The  wind  was  light ;  the  weather  perfect.  Our  progress  homeward 
was  slow  and  tedious;  we  did  not  arrive  until  after  dark.  The  small 
boats  were  dispensed  with  on  our  return;  it  being  now  high  tide,  the 
sloop  came  up  to  the  dock  of  Samuel  Tredwell's  landing,  where  wagons 
were  In  waiting  to  carry  us  home.  Everybody  had  a  good  time,  got 
sunburned,  and  the  old  folks  and  the  children  were  very  tired.     Thus 

128 


ended  a  very  pleasurable  day,  a  kind  of  family  reunion,  which  will  be 
repeated  again  next  year,  as  it  has  been  continued  from  immemorial  time. 

Sunday,  August  14,  1842. 

Went  this  day  to  see  the  great  Millerite  encampment  in  Pettit^s 
woods,  about  one  mile  south  from  the  Village  of  Hempstead.  We 
believe  they  have  been  encamped  here  about  one  week.  This  piece  of 
primeval  woods  is  charmingly  adapted  and  is  held  for  purposes  of  this 
kind.  The  grounds  are  fenced,  or  stockaded,  and  can  be  closed  at  night 
against  intruders.  The  encampment  does  not  in  any  essential  particular 
differ  in  its  arrangement  from  an  ordinary  Methodist  camp  meeting. 
There  is  a  large  shelter,  or  stand,  erected,  from  which  sermons  are 
preached  or  addresses  delivered. 

There  are  seats  erected  sufficient  to  accommodate  two  thousand  peo- 
ple ;  besides,  there  is  a  large  tent  capable  of  holding  a  great  many  people, 
to  be  used  in  the  emergency  of  bad  weather.  The  private  tents,  of  which 
there  were  a  great  many,  were  arranged  about  the  grounds  much  as 
the  ordinary  camp  meeting.  We  were  told  that  the  attendance  during 
the  week  had  not  been  remarkably  great,  being  mostly  composed  of  the 
faithful;  people  were  too  busy  getting  in  their  crops  to  listen  to  talks 
about  the  end  of  the  world.  "We'll  get  our  wheat  in,  and  then  we 
don't  care." 

But  there  was  a  vast  number  of  people  on  the  ground  today,  the 
greater  portion  of  whom  were  attracted  there  out  of  curiosity  and  the 
novelty  of  the  occasion.  Not  much  respect  was  shown  for  the  promoters 
of  the  Millerite  bubble.  It  was  regarded  by  all  level-headed  people  the 
most  airy  of  all  the  religious  frauds. 

The  founder  of  this  schism  was  William  Miller.  His  doctrine 
was  made  known  to  the  world  in  1833.  He  claimed  that  he  had  dis- 
covered from  the  Scriptures  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ  was  to 
take  place  in  April,  1843,  when  the  world  would  come  to  an  end  and  the 
faithful  would  enter  at  once  into  the  joys  of  heaven;  that  they  would 
be  translated  in  the  flesh  when  the  dissolution  took  place,  which  Miller 
prophesied  would  be  in  April,  1843.  This  doctrine  of  Miller,  which 
seems  to  supplement  the  general  belief  of  all  Christians  in  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  did  not  require  a  great  deal  of  pushing  to  capture 
the  minds  of  weak  Christians.  Many  of  the  strong  ones  ridiculed  Miller 
as  a  fraud,  while  in  their  hearts  they  quaked  with  fear  as  the  day  ap- 
proached, fearing  that  it  might  be  true. 

While  the  great  crowd  on  the  camp  ground  who  were  not  wor- 
shippers, nor  neophytes,  maintained  a  marvelous  decorum,  it  was  quite 
the  reverse  on  the  outside  of  the  grounds;  for  a  fourth  of  a  mile  north 
and  south  of  the  main  entrance  every  conceivable  traffic  in  bibulous 
fluids  was  carried  on,  and  noisy  vagabond  crowds  occupied  booths  on 
the  highway.  There  was  a  constant  stream  of  pedestrians  going  and 
coming  from  the  Village  of  Hempstead. 

129 


The  most  attractive  speaker  during  the  day  was  Joshua  V.  Hines, 
chief  saint  and  prophet.  He  spoke  twice  during  the  day  from  the  out- 
side stand.  One  Amasa  Baker  held  forth  from  within  the  big  tent. 
He  was  a  fire  eater.  He  enunciated  emphatically  that  all  the  saints 
who  accepted  the  teachings  of  the  prophet  and  were  prepared  would 
enter  with  Christ  the  Kingdom  in  April  next;  all  others  would  be 
burned  to  a  cinder  by  an  avenging  God.  Many  others  preached,  but 
the  principal  method  for  proselytizing  was  through  the  circulation  of 
printed  matter,  pamphlets,  not  only  for  the  camp  ground,  as  was  being 
done  at  the  present  time,  but  for  years  previous  the  country  had  been 
flooded  with  Millerite  literature,  pamphlets  and  books.  No  household 
on  the  South  Side  escaped  this  infliction.  Some  of  the  pamphlets  were 
made  up  of  labyrinthian  diagrams,  signs,  with  a  muddle  of  mathematics, 
chronology  and  Scripture  references,  entirely  beyond  the  comprehension 
of  any  sane  man.  By  this  means  the  doctrinal  jungle  had  been  thorough- 
ly introduced  to  all  grades  of  society  in  this  part  of  the  town,  and  with 
all  this  and  a  great  deal  of  intemperate  bluster,  and  the  promise  of  a 
free  passage  to  heaven,  while  all  other  things  were  in  a  state  of  fusion, 
many  people  who  had  never  seriously  anticipated  going  to  heaven  at 
all  were  scared  into  a  yearning,  and  some  no  doubt  were  led  to  sincerely 
believe. 

But  we  shall  see  what  takes  place  on  April  next.  Many  of  the 
faithful  have  made  complete  arrangements  for  the  ascension,  some 
having  already  prepared  ascension  robes  of  elaborate  structure.  Some, 
it  is  said,  have  given  away  their  property  to  relieve  themselves  of  all 
earthly  attachments,  knowing  that  they  will  have  no  further  use  for 
such  things. 

The  devotion  of  these  deluded  people  to  their  cause  and  their  ab- 
solute faith  transcends  anything  we  have  ever  seen  in  the  way  of  re- 
ligious enthusiasm.  In  all  their  prayer  meetings,  in  their  singing  and 
in  their  conversations,  there  was  an  earnestness  marvelous  for  so  weak 
a  cause.  There  were  many  people  about  the  grounds  known  to  us  whose 
interest  seemed  to  be  more  than  mere  idle  spectators.  Thy  appeared  to 
be  connected  with  the  encampment;  many  of  them  belonged  on  the 
Neck,  and  whom  we  had  never  suspected  of  being  tainted  with  this 
most  preposterous  fake,  they  being  communicants  in  other  churches. 

Altogether,  the  day  was  profitably  spent  in  meeting  friends  and 
punning  about  becoming  colors  for  robes,  etc.,  not,  however,  in  a  sense 
of  ridicule  to  those  sincere  worshippers;  upon  their  leaders  rests  the 
odium. 

The  records  of  the  Millerite  movement  in  the  Town  of 
Hempstead  during  the  years  from  1834  to  1843  would  form 
an  Important  factor  in  the  history  of  the  town  during  that  de- 
cade.    Many  proselytes  were  made  In  Hempstead  from  the 

130 


sturdy,  hard-working  yeomanry  of  the  South  Side,  who  had 
successfully  resisted  the  appeals  of  all  other  sects. 

They  were  reached  principally  by  personal  contact,  the 
newspapers  and  a  vast  amount  of  book  and  pamphlet  literature. 

William  Miller,  the  founder  of  the  sect,  was  born  at 
Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  1781,  and  he  began  prophesying  the 
end  of  the  world  and  the  second  coming  of  Christ  about  1834. 
The  Great  High  Priest,  however,  of  the  sect  was  Joshua  V. 
Hines. 

The  following  is  from  "Reminiscences  of  an  Octogenar- 
ian of  the  City  of  New  York  (1816  to  1840)" :  "This  year 
(1833)  saw  the  beginning  of  the  Millerite  craze,  which  as- 
sumed considerable  proportions  during  the  ten  years  or  more 
next  succeeding,  causing  a  good  deal  of  talk  and  newspaper 
comment  and  unsettling  many  weak  minds.  William  Miller 
of  Hampton,  New  York  (born  in  Pittsfield,  Mass.),  believed, 
or  pretended  that  he  had  discovered  from  his  study  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  near  at  hand 
and  prophesied  Christ's  second  coming  in  the  month  of  April, 
1843.  The  new  doctrine  was  promulgated  by  preaching  and 
circulation  of  books  and  tracts  and  secured  adherents,  many 
of  whom  when  the  appointed  time  drew  near  divested  them- 
selves of  their  property,  as  being  of  no  further  use  to  them  and 
prepared  ascension  robes  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  great  day. 
Finally,  the  day  arrived;  full  of  expectation,  every  Millerite 
was  prepared;  but  on  that  day,  nothing  unusual  occurring,  it 
was  said  that  some  error  in  the  computation  had  been  found 
and  that  the  true  date  was  in  October  of  the  same  year.  All 
this  did  not  in  the  least  degree  ruffle  the  faith  of  the  true  be- 
liever." 

A  letter  in  the  "Troy  Times"  of  July,  1894,  contains  an 
account  by  the  Rev.  Professor  Wentworth,  then  in  the  Troy 
Conference  Academy,  of  a  visit  made  by  him  to  Miller  on  the 
day  before  the  great  expected  conflagration. 

Professor  Wentworth  says:  "That  although  the  final 
judgment  was  so  near,  and  the  faithful  were  casting  away  their 

m 


worldly  goods  In  contempt  of  all  things  perishable,  it  was  not 
so  with  Miller  himself.  He  believed,"  says  Dr.  Wentworth, 
"in  the  Scripture  injunction,  'Occupy  till  I  come,'  and  his  fields 
were  clean  mown  and  cropped,  his  woodhouse  was  full  of  wood 
sawed  and  piled  for  winter  use.  Forty  rods  of  new  stone  wall 
had  been  built  that  fall,  and  a  drag  stood  ready  with  boulders 
as  a  cargo  to  be  laid  upon  the  wall  the  next  day." 

Lydia  Maria  Childs'  caustic  comment  on  the  Millerlte 
was  that  she  had  ''heard  of  very  few  instances  of  stolen  goods 
restored,  or  of  falsehoods  acknowledged  as  a  preparation  for 
the  dreaded  event." 

Upon  the  failure  of  the  second  prophecy  reasons  for  a 
new  one  were  forthcoming,  and  again  on  March  22,  1844,  the 
Mlllerites,  clad  in  their  ascension  robes,  gathered  on  hilltops, 
looking  vainly  for  the  coming  of  Christ  from  the  East.  It 
was  a  pathetic  company  and  much  of  the  pathetic  quality  at- 
tended this  delusion,  in  the  course  of  which  the  more  feeble 
minds  became  deranged,  and  not  a  few  committed  suicide. 

During  the  years  embraced  in  this  recital  much  discus- 
sion was  had  among  the  people  of  a  higher  intellectual  grade 
than  Miller's  proselytes  generally,  upon  whom  little  or  no 
impression  was  made  by  these  ranting  adventlsts. 

Miller  outlived  his  reputation  as  a  prophet,  but  not  that 
of  a  sacreliglous  fraud,  and  the  end  of  the  world  came  for  him 
in  December,  1849.  The  Second  Adventlst  Sect,  however,  of 
which  he  was  the  real  father,  survives  as  his  monument,  hav- 
ing attained  the  dignity  of  further  sectism  and  subdivision 
within  itself,  some  of  the  members  having  developed  new  views 
of  the  Trinity,  while  some  retain  orthodox  opinions,  some  tak- 
ing up  the  seventh  day  notion,  others  Sunday,  etc.  Miller,  of 
course,  was  the  figurehead,  but  the  brains  were  in  the  head  of 
Joshua  V.  Hines,  an  early  convert,  who  became  the  real  or- 
ganizer of  the  movement  and  provided  and  disseminated  its 
literature.  In  after  years,  when  sect  after  sect  appeared  among 
the  remaining  adherents  of  Miller,  Mr.  Hines  continued  to 
be  the  leader  of  the  more  conservative.    At  the  age  of  seventy- 

132 


four  so  adroit  a  schemer  was  he  that  he  received  Deacon's  or- 
ders In  the  Episcopal  Church  at  the  hand  of  Bishop  Clarkson, 
and  remained  In  the  missionary  charge  then  entrusted  to  him, 
and  active  therein,  until  his  death  at  ninety  years  toward  the 
close  of  1895. 

The  same  author  says:  'It  Is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the 
Millerlte  movement  largely  helped  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
Episcopal  Church  reformation,  into  which  thousands  came 
after  the  time  had  passed  for  the  second  coming.  Mlllerism 
made  no  converts  originally  from  the  Episcopal  Church,  but 
drew  from  the  religious  bodies  In  which  the  doctrines  of  the 
Intermediate  state,  the  Resurrection  and  the  second  coming  of 
Christ  had  been  once  a  prevailing  faith,  now  much  ignored.'' 

We  do  not  believe  that  the  above,  as  a  result,  will  apply 
to  the  Hempstead  South  congregations  of  Mlllerism.  Our 
experience,  which,  true,  was  limited,  was  that  those  who  drew 
from  the  churches  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  Millerltes  re- 
turned generally  to  their  old  churches,  the  Presbyterian  and 
Methodist.  An  organization  known  as  Second  Adventists 
survived  the  collapse  at  Hempstead.  The  true  believer,  how- 
ever, lost  no  faith  by  the  first  failure,  but  on  the  second  and 
third  many  began  to  gain  consciousness  and  realize  that  they 
had  been  Imposed  upon  and  felt  the  deepest  mortification, 
which  was  much  heightened  by  the  ridicule  heaped  upon  them 
by  their  unbelieving  neighbors.  And  the  taint  stuck  to  them 
many  years. 

Quite  a  large  congregation  of  these  deluded  people  as- 
sembled In  a  barn  between  Rockville  Centre  and  Hempstead 
(further  particulars  leading  to  identification  we  forbear  out  of 
respect  to  the  many  respectable  survivors  of  these  misguided 
people),  arrayed  in  ascension  robes  on  the  night  before  the 
coming  of  Christ  and  their  ascension.  They  spent  the  night 
(their  last  on  earth)  In  praying  and  singing,  and  not  until  the 
dawn  of  day  did  It  dawn  upon  these  misguided  idiots  of  the 
ridiculous  spectacle  they  made  in  returning  to  their  homes  in 
their  most  absurd  trousseau.     Some  felt  the  disgrace  keenly, 

133 


abandoned  the  faith  and  from  that  time  never  in  any  manner 
referred  to  the  subject  of  Millerism,  or  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  Some  remained  in  the  barn  all  day  and  left  under  the 
shadow  of  darkness.  These  facts  are  all  well  known  in  the 
neighborhood  and  there  are  those  still  living  who  remember  the 
incident  and,  in  fact,  there  are  some  yet  living  who  partici- 
pated in  this  madman's  act.  Similar  acts  of  imbecility  took 
place  in  many  other  places.  It  seems  improbable  that  a  ration- 
al being  could  be  led  into  such  ridiculous  beliefs,  and  yet  it  is 
no  more  absurd  than  some  things  in  all  the  creeds ;  what  makes 
it  ridiculous  is  that  they  believed  it. 

Friday,  September  2,  1842. 

John  Tredwell,  of  Brooklyn,  called  on  my  father  yesterday  at  the 
home  of  the  latter.  He  was  in  a  most  fantastic  turnout,  consisting  of 
a  jaunty  buggy  with  bright  red  wheels.  His  team,  a  white  and  a  sorrel, 
which  he  drove  tandem,  had  exceedingly  attractive  harness  and  trap- 
pings, trimmed  with  ribbons  and  rosettes. 

Mr.  Tredwell  and  his  dashing  rig  created  a  sensation  among  the 
plain  country  people,  none  to  his  reputation  as  a  man  of  good  sense, 
from  their  point  of  view. 

He  had  driven  from  Jamaica  by  way  of  Hempstead  during  the 
morning.  His  horses  were  of  the  highest  training,  so  my  father  says, 
and  no  man  in  the  United  States  held  in  higher  estimation  a  well-dis- 
ciplined, blooded  horse  than  did  John  Tredwell.  He  spent  about  half 
an  hour  at  our  house  and  drove  off  toward  Jamaica. 

The  interview  we  afterwards  learned  was  concerning 
some  interest  my  grandfather  was  supposed  to  have  had  in 
property  located  at  Huntington,  L.  I. 


134 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Customs  of  The  Marshing  Season. 

Foreword. 

IKE  the  great  plains,  the  marshes  were  the 
common  lands  of  the  Town  of  Hempstead.  The 
marsh  privileges  were  considered  a  great  induce- 
ment to  settlers. 

Sheep  parting  and  marshing  were  institu- 
tions peculiar  to  Long  Island,  and  so  far  as  we  know  were 
unique. 

On  the  south  shore  of  Long  Island,  between  the  upland 
and  the  beach,  or  ocean,  is  a  tract  of  meadow,  or  marsh  land, 
consisting  of  about  50,000  acres,  of  which  about  22,000  acres 
lie  In  Queens  County  and  about  8,300  acres  in  the  Town  of 
Hempstead. 

From  the  earliest  history  of  the  town  efforts  have  been 
made  to  divide  the  common  lands  of  the  Town  of  Hempstead, 
consisting  of  the  plain  lands   and  these  marshes,   pro   rata 
among  the  freeholders  of  the  town.    These  efforts  for  various 
reasons  have  failed  in  fruition.     At  a  general  town  meeting 
held  at  Hempstead  on  October  14,  1723,  certain  freeholders 
of  the  town  presented  a  memorial,  setting  forth  "That  whereas, 
many  persons,  having  no  rights  whatever  in  the  town,  have 
used  large  tracts  of  the  common  marshes  to  their  benefit  and 
to  the  injury  of  the  real  parties  interested,  or  the  freeholders 
and  inhabitants  of  the  town.     The  memorialists  therefore 
pray  the  assembly  that  a  division  of  said  common  land  be 
equitably  made  among  the  freeholders  of  said  town,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  holdings  at  the  present  time,  and  for  this 
purpose  pray  that  a  commission  may  be  appointed  by  this 
Assembly,  consisting  of  Colonel  Hicks,  James  Searing,  James 
Jackson,  William  Willis,  Sen.  Benjamin  Searing,  Jun.,  Joshua 

135 


"Carman  and  Abil  Smith,  with  full  power  and  authority  to 
"divide  our  said  lands  in  manner  and  form  prescribed." 
(Here  follows  plan.)  "And  that  the  charges  incurred  in 
"effecting  such  division  be  taken  from  the  town  funds  now  in 
"the  hands  of  Justice  John  Tredwell,  Treasurer  of  the  Town." 
The  resolution  was  adopted  and  at  the  same  time  It  was  or- 
dered that  the  men  deputed  to  make  the  division  be  allowed 
for  their  services  six  shillings  per  day  each. 

At  a  town  meeting  held  nearly  twenty  years  later  the 
four  supervisors  of  this  commission  were  called  upon  for  a 
report,  and  they  asked  for  more  time.  The  objection  to  the 
scheme  seemed  to  be  too  much  power  In  the  commission,  that 
the  projected  plan  permitted  them  to  dispose  of  the  land  as 
they  pleased,  and  laying  out  to  some  persons  select  tracts,  while 
others  might  be  left  to  put  up  with  what  was  left,  or  get 
nothing. 

This  tract  of  marsh  land  Is  perfectly  level  and  is  inter- 
spersed by  creeks  running  in  every  conceivable  direction,  and 
being  of  every  conceivable  degree  of  crookedness,  width  and 
depth.  A  large  portion  of  this  tract  of  meadow  produces  a 
salt  grass  very  healthful  for  cattle  and  sheep.  And  it  being 
common  land  of  the  town,  any  townsman  may  harvest  as  much 
as  he  pleases,  with  only  the  restriction  as  to  the  time  for  the 
commencement  of  cutting.  At  the  town  meeting,  or  spring 
election,  It  was  resolved  by  the  good  people  of  the  town  viva 
voce  that  the  cutting  of  the  marshes  shall  commence  on  a 
named  day,  usually  Tuesday  after  the  second  Monday  In 
September.  Consequently,  on  the  day  previous,  or  the  second 
Monday  in  September,  the  Inhabitants  go  in  their  boats  to  lo- 
cate a  patent,  or  in  other  words,  to  select  a  desirable  piece  of 
grass  not  yet  selected  by  any  other  person;  but  no  one  Is  per- 
mitted to  cut  until  sunrise  on  Tuesday,  under  the  penalty  of  the 
law.  The  cutting  of  hay  on  these  marshes  commenced  early 
in  the  history  of  the  English  settlers,  but  the  first  act  appearing 
on  the  records  of  the  town  regulating  the  cutting  was  on  July 
5,  1667,  and  was  as  follows: 

136 


"July  ye  5,  1667. 

"It  is  ordered  this  day  by  the  constable  and  overseers  of 
"this  present  towne  that  Noe  man  shall  mow  under  any  pre- 
"tense  soever  Any  of  ye  common  meddows  Att  the  South  be- 
"fore  ye  25th  Day  of  this  present  Month  upon  ye  Breach  of 
"this  order  he  that  shall  make  ye  Breach  of  ye  foresayd  order 
"shall  forfitt  the  sayd  grass  or  hay  or  ten  shillings  a  lode  ye 
"one  halfe  to  him  that  Complains  and  ye  other  halfe  to  ye 


"towne." 


From  this  time  on,  many  acts  were  passed  at  the  town 
meeting  regulating  the  cutting  of  grass  and  many  other  mat- 
ters concerning  the  marshes,  until  nearly  one  hundred  years 
later,  we  find  the  following  fully  defined  enactment  on  the 
town  records : 

"Att  a  Publick  Town  Meeting  held  in  Hempstead  the 
"thirty-first  Day  of  August  one  thousand  and  Seven  hundred 
"and  Sixty-one  persuant  to  the  Direction  of  the  above  War- 
"rant  it  Was  then  Voted  and  Agreed  upon  by  the  Majority  of 
"the  Freeholders  &  Tennants  in  Common  of  the  Said  Town- 
"ship  then  Assembled  that  No  Grass  Nor  Sedge  Shall  be  cut 
"On  the  Common  Meadows  or  MarsheSsOn  the  South  Side  of 
"Sd  Township  at  any  time  hereafter  untill  the  first  day  of 
"September  (Except  Such  Small  Quantitys  as  people  usually 
"Cut  in  the  Summer  Season  to  Salt  their  cattle),  and  it  is  Also 
"Voted  by  a  Majority  of  the  said  Freeholders  &  Tennants  in 
"Common  that  if  Any  person  shall  Cut  any  Grasse  or  Sedge 
"as  aforesaid  before  the  first  day  of  September  they  shall 
"forfitt  &  pay  twenty  shillings  for  Every  offence  to  the  use  of 
"the  poor  of  the  said  Township  &  the  following  persons  to 
"wit:  Timothy  Beadle,  Sam  R.  Smith,  Samuel  Langdon,  In- 
"crease  Pettit  &  William  Langdon,  or  any  two  of  them  are  by 
"Vote  of  the  said  Freeholders  and  tennants  in  common  chosen 
"to  Sue  for  the  Said  Fines  and  forfitures  &  When  Received  to 
"pay  it  to  the  Church  Warden  for  the  use  above  said. 

"And  whereas  many  persons  have  of  late  years  been 
"obliged  to  go  to  the  Marshes  to  Git  hay  to  Winter  there  Cat- 

To  137 


'tie  but  find  Great  Difficulty  in  Curing  the  Same  for  want  of 
'More  publick  Landing  places  and  have  complained  at  the 
'Town  Meeting  that  Sundry  persons  have  inclosed  part  of  the 
'Common  Land  and  Meadow  AT  South  for  their  own  particu- 
'lar  use  So  as  to  Debar  the  Town  in  general  the  benefitt 
'thereof  therefore  the  Freeholders  &  Tennants  as  abovesaid 
'Do  by  Majority  of  Votes  Appoint  and  Impower  Timothy 
'Beadle,  Thomas  Rushmore,  Isaac  Denton  &  Benjamin 
'Cheesman  to  Inspect  into  the  Same  and  Where  they  Shall  find 
'Any  person  or  persons  that  have  fenced  in  Any  of  the  An- 
'cient  Comanages  as  aforesaid  they  shall  require  Such  Persons 
'to  throw  out  the  Same  in  Som  Convenient  time,  Which  if 
'they  neglect  or  Refuse  to  Do  then  the  said  Persons  or 
'Either  of  them  Shall  Lay  Open  the  Same  and  the  Town  to 
'Clear  them  Harmless  for  So  Doing  &  as  Several  persons 
'Who  usually  practice  Gitting  Hay  of  the  Marshes  have 
'Made  Application  to  this  Town  Meeting  in  behalf  of  them- 
'selves  and  Others  that  Now  Do  or  hereafter  May  have  Occa- 
'sion  to  Git  Hay  of  the  Marshes  for  Libery  to  Inclose  such 
'parts  of  the  comonages  as  they  May  have  Occasion  for  to 
'cure  their  Hay  On.  During  the  General  Season  of  Gitting 
'Sedge  and  then  their  Inclosure  to  be  removed  So  as  to  Lye 


in  common." 


All  of  which  was  granted  by  the  Major  Vote  of  the  Free- 
holders. 

On  June  17,  1765,  the  above  enactment  was  confirmed  by 
the  assembled  freeholders,  adding  "That  whereas,  many  per- 
"sons  have  for  Several  Years  past  in  order  to  Ingross  to  them- 
"selves  the  Sedge  Growing  on  the  Most  handy  Marshes  in 
"the  Said  Township  as  Soon  as  the  time  Comes  for  Mowing 
"to  go  on  with  such  a  Number  of  hands  as  to  Cut  down  Such 
"Large  parcels  as  cannot  be  got  off  under  several  days  which 
"Not  only  Renders  it  Liable  to  be  Carried  away  with  the 
"tide  &  so  make  a  Scarcity  butt  is  doing  great  Injustice  to  the 
"other  Inhabitants  having  a  right  as  they  are  deprived  of  a 

138 


"Share  in  the  handy  marshes  and  are  obliged  to  get  most  of 
*'their  Hay  from  the  Most  distant. 

''Now,  if  any  persons  Shall  for  the  futer  any  time  before 
"the  20th  day  of  September  Cut  Down  Any  More  Sedge  on 
"the  said  South  Marshes  than  they  shall  Bring  off  the  same 
"day  they  Shall  forfitt  twenty  Shillings  for  each  Offence. 

"In  case  of  stress  of  weather  or  accident  such  persons 
"May  not  be  considered  offenders."  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  enforce  the  enactment. 

At  every  town  meeting  some  enactment  was  passed  regu- 
lating the  cutting  of  grass  on  the  marshes.  The  last  act  con- 
tained in  the  extant  records  of  the  Town  of  Hempstead  was 
passed  August  7,  1775.  It  was  merely  confirmatory  of  former 
acts. 

There  is  an  unwritten  common  law  among  these  honest 
people  that  the  person  first  locating  on  a  tract  of  marsh  sig- 
nified by  setting  up  a  rake,  a  pitchfork,  a  grindstone,  or  other 
device,  has  undisputed  right  to  occupy  against  all  subsequent 
comers.     This  right  is  never  questioned. 

My  father  had  located  a  cluster  of  islands  on  Shell  Creek, 
better  known  as  Mud  Hole  Hassock.  These  patents  were 
about  three  and  a  half  miles  from  our  landing  place  on  the 
mainland.  The  landing  place  was  private,  belonging  to  our 
family,  and  we  consequently  escaped  the  111  consequences  of 
common  dockage  and  common  curing  ground.  Such  was  the 
scarcity  and  so  great  the  demand  for  curing  ground  that  the 
highway  commissioners  were  petitioned  to  set  aside  a  piece 
of  public  ground  for  that  purpose,  which  they  did  as  a  fred 
spreading  ground. 

(See  Rec.  of  the  Towns  of  North  and  South  Hempstead, 
Liber  E,  page  70.) 

The  grass  when  cut  was  brought  in  boats  (large  farmers 
had  scows  which  would  carry  ten  ordinary  boat  loads)  to  the 
mainland,  usually  the  same  day  that  It  was  cut,  for  a  storm 
or  a  spring  tide  might  carry  It  all  away.  Here  It  was  spread 
out  on  upland  to  cure,  and  when  cured  It  was  removed  to  the 


139 


barnyard  and  stacked,  the  cattle  and  sheep  generally  having 
access  to  it  during  the  winter.  They  did  not,  however,  eat 
much  of  it;  it  was  very  salt.  They  enjoyed  a  little  of  it  as  a 
relish  only.  Milch  cows  were  kept  away  from  it,  as  it  was 
said  to  dry  up  their  milk. 

This  sedge  hay  harvest,  or  marshing,  as  it  was  called,  was 
a  season  of  hard  work,  but  not  without  its  pleasures.  It  was 
extremely  healthful  work.  There  were  some  who  cut  this  hay 
to  sell,  and  we  believe  it  was  sold  at  a  profit.  Farmers  living 
out  of  the  town  who  kept  a  large  stock  of  cattle  were  generally 
the  customers  who  purchased  it.  A  two-horse  load  after  it 
was  cured  would  fetch  about  twelve  or  fifteen  dollars.  Some 
of  the  larger  farmers  who  wintered  a  great  deal  of  stock  cut 
large  quantities  of  this  hay  and  had  many  men  in  their  employ 
during  the  sedge  harvest.  Such  usually  constructed  temporary 
huts  or  shelters  of  considerable  dimensions  on  the  marsh  dur- 
ing this  season.  In  these  rude  structures  they  slept,  generally 
taking  their  meals  in  the  open  air,  one  of  their  number  usually 
doing  the  cooking  and  preparing  the  meals.  The  cook  was 
generally  the  greatest  crank  in  the  gang.  He  had  a  weakness 
for  his  profession  and  was  always  ventilating  his  peerless 
qualities  as  a  caterer. 

Eels,  hard  and  soft  shell  clams,  crabs  and  fish  being  ob- 
tainable in  great  quantities  in  the  waters  of  the  immediate 
creeks  and  bays,  the  farmers  and  their  hands  lived  pretty 
generally  upon  these  products,  sometimes,  however,  indulging 
in  the  luxury  of  such  game  as  snipe  and  duck.  There  was  a 
great  variety  of  game  birds  frequenting  the  waters  and  marshes 
of  this  part  of  Long  Island,  as  the  plover,  canvasback  duck, 
yellow  leg  snipe,  marlin  and  others  of  the  tribe,  teal  or  brant. 

Many  of  the  plain  countrymen  are  genuine  sporting  men 
of  the  old  school,  famous  for  coolness,  unassuming  and  who 
do  not  in  the  fullness  of  experience  claim  entire  immunity  from 
nervousness  in  extreme  cases,  as  a  prolonged  struggle  with  a 
twelve-pound  sheepshead  with  a  six-ounce  rod  and  an  ordinary 
trout  line,  and  whose  nerves  do  sometimes  threaten  ancesthesia 

140 


in  looking  Into  a  flock  of  yellow  leg  snipe  or  marlln  along  the 
barrels  of  his  fowling  piece,  but  they  never  miss  their  game. 

We  recall  with  great  pleasure  the  incidents  of  the  nine 
days  spent  in  the  marshing  camp,  during  which  period  we 
slept  on  the  marsh,  ate  eel  and  clam  chowder  and  smothered 
flounders,  or  fluke,  with  the  mess. 

The  methods  of  cooking  were  probably  healthful,  but 
not  calculated  to  inspire  the  greatest  enthusiasm  for  its  classi- 
cal neatness,  or  immaculate  cleanliness,  nor  its  conformity 
with  the  revised  code  of  Brillat  Savarin. 

Our  chef  de  cuisine  was  phenomenal  In  science  and  arti- 
fice; one  iron  pot  rendered  service  for  boiling,  stewing,  roast- 
ing and  for  a  variety  of  other  purposes.  The  plates  used  were 
of  pewter,  spoons  of  the  same  material.  Elegance  and  for- 
mality were  not  distinguishing  characteristics  of  these  camp 
meals,  but  they  were  served  and  eaten  with  an  abundance  of 
that  appetizing  sauce  called  in  the  old  adage  "hunger."  Ovid 
observed  that  even  the  fingers  could  be  used  with  grace  at 
meals. 

The  vividness  and  detail  with  which  our  memory  recalls, 
after  a  lapse  of  nearly  fifty  years,  the  small  Incidents  of  the 
old  institution  and  its  customs,  all  now  passed  into  the  realm 
of  dreams,  is  an  evidence  of  the  deep  impression  made  upon 
us  and  the  intensity  with  which  we  enjoyed  them.  We  believe 
many  farmers  looked  forward  with  pleasure  to  the  marshing 
season,  as  a  relief  to  the  monotony  of  their  lives.  They  made 
a  picnic  of  it. 

All  is  now  passed  and  oblivion  Is  fast  closing  over  even 
the  memory  of  these  interesting  local  institutions. 

The  following  entry  was  made: 

Monday,  September  5,  1842. 

The  law  now  in  force  concerning  the  cutting  of  sedge  on  the 
marshes,  or  the  common  lands,  is  that  no  grass  shall  be  cut  before 
Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  September.  Some  amendments 
were  made  to  the  marshing  law  almost  every  year,  but  this  regulating 
the  cutting  was  of  many  years'  standing. 

According  to  a  long-established   custom,  our   gang  were   on   the 

141 


ground  at  Mud  Hole  Hassock  early  on  Monday  (this)  morning  and 
took  possession  of  these  hassocks  under  a  ceremony  very  much  like  that 
under  which  Hendrick  Hudson  took  possession  of  the  Island  of  Man- 
hattan, not,  however,  by  the  erection  of  our  flag,  but  by  the  more  sig- 
nificant symbols  of  putting  up  a  rake  in  one  place,  a  pair  of  cock-poles 
in  another,  our  residence  and  grindstone  in  another,  thus  giving  notice 
to  the  world  that  our  claim  was  by  prior  discovery  and  would  be  de- 
fended against  all  or  any  subsequent  claimant. 

As  no  sedge  could  be  cut  on  Monday,  except  for  erecting  huts,  or 
some  such  necessary  purpose,  the  day  was  spent  in  preparation,  grind- 
ing scythes,  mending  rakes,  etc.  First,  a  hut  or  shelter  was  erected, 
and  all  hands  were  set  to  work  in  its  construction.  The  site  selected 
was  on  Shell  Creek  and  which  had  been  occupied  for  the  past  twenty- 
five  years  for  the  like  purpose.  There  is  no  high  ground  on  these 
marshes,  but  our  home  site  was  a  trifle  higher  than  the  surrounding 
marsh,  made  so  to  some  extent  by  the  accumulations  incident  to  oc- 
cupancy. The  soil,  and  consequently  the  vegetation,  had  changed  in 
immediate  proximity  to  our  habitation.  The  vegetation  was  in  a  transi- 
tion state  and  was  already  beginning  to  give  evidence  of  upland  ten- 
dencies, and  a  resemblance  to  fresh  water  products.  All  this  greatly  re- 
lieved the  monotonous  landscape. 

A  hardy  shrub  with  strong  woody  fibre  had  taken  possession  of  a 
little  knoll  around  our  hut  and  extended  its  sheltering  branches  over 
the  less  hardy  aliens  which  from  accident  or  selection  had  invaded  our 
little  plot.  It  is  marvelous  how  soon  after  being  rendered  possible  by 
leeching  and  bleaching  that  upland  plants  appear  in  favored  spots  on 
these  marshes  to  the  exclusion  of  all  saline  types. 

Our  household  consisted  of  five  men  and  myself  and  accommoda- 
tions, although  necessarily  the  most  primitive,  must  be  provided  for  their 
protection  from  storms  and  for  comfortable  sleeping  quarters.  In  fine 
weather  we  would  be  expected  to  take  our  meals  in  the  open  air.  One 
of  our  gang  took  charge  of  the  preparation  of  meals  and  the  cooking, 
and  the  quantities  of  food  consumed  by  these  five  men  was  truly  astound- 
ing, although  a  large  portion  of  our  food  was  prepared  on  the  main- 
land, such  as  bread,  navy  hard  bread,  pies,  cooked  ham,  baked  beans  and 
many  others;  vegetables  were  cooked  in  camp;  also  clams,  fish,  eels 
and  birds  were  served  daily.  We  had  an  abundant  supply  of  fruit  and 
melons. 

Everything  now  being  in  readiness  for  the  opening  of  the  season 
tomorrow,  Tuesday,  supper  was  served,  and  after  smoking  their  pipes 
the  men  turned  in  and  in  a  few  minutes  were  sleeping  as  soundly  as 
played-out  children. 

The  novelty  of  the  situation  drove  sleep  from  us,  and  after  seek- 
ing in  vain  to  sleep,  thinking  into  forgetfulness,  we  crept  silently  out 
into  the  open  air.  It  was  a  magnificent  night.  The  moon  and  stars 
were  reflected  in  flickering  zig-zag  lines  upon  the  rippling  waters.     A 

142 


slight  mist  like  a  curtain  hung  motionless  over  the  distant  creeks,  but 
the  solitude  was  painful.  Now  and  then  we  were  startled  by  the  metallic 
cackle  of  a  meadow  hen  or  the  muffled  quack  of  a  sheldrake.  Other- 
wise it  was  the  silence  of  death,  save  the  ceaseless  roll  of  the  ocean. 

Tuesday  J  September  6,   1842. 

The  men  were  on  hand  at  sunrise  with  a  determination  to  send  a 
freight  of  grass  on  shore  on  the  morning  flood  tide,  it  being  high  water 
a  little  after  ten  o'clock,  but  alas,  on  the  first  stroke  with  the  scythe  it 
was  evident  that  we  must  suspend  in  consequence  of  the  snails,  the 
Melajnpus'bidentatus.  These  little  creatures,  not  more  than  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  long  were  on  the  grass  in  countless  millions  and  absolutely 
prevented  the  men  mowing.  They  have  a  tough  hard  shell  and  in  one 
stroke  of  the  scythe  its  edge  must  necessarily  come  in  contact  with 
thousands — no  scythe  could  endure  it.  This  initial  trouble  was  a  little 
mollusc,  an  air-breathing  animal  with  true  lungs,  whose  habitat  was  in 
the  mud  at  the  roots  of  the  sedge  grass.  He  is  emphatically  a  saline 
creature,  but  he  is  wonderfully  fond  of  a  little  fresh  water,  and  in  the 
morning  when  the  dew  is  on  he  ascends  the  stalk  to  get  the  pearly  drop 
suspended  on  the  tip  of  the  sedge  leaf,  and  in  such  vast  numbers  are 
these  tiny  creatures  and  so  simultaneous  are  their  movements  that  they 
would  defeat  any  effort  of  the  mower  to  cut  through  them. 

Operations  must  therefore  be  suspended  awaiting  their  pleasure; 
from  this  there  was  no  appeal.  However,  they  soon  completed  their 
pilgrimage,  for  having  captured  the  coveted  crystal  drop,  they  descend 
to  their  mud  homes  and  in  half  an  hour  the  grass  was  entirely  free  of 
them.  The  mowers  then  went  at  the  work  with  a  will,  and  in  less 
than  two  hours  had  cut  sufficient  grass  for  a  freight  and  had  commenced 
loading  our  transport  with  the  hay,  and  at  nine  and  a  half  o'clock  our 
first  freight  was  afloat  on  its  way  to  the  landing. 

Wednesday,  September  7,  1842. 

At  nine  o'clock  this  morning  our  transport  was  again  freighted  and 
on  its  way  to  the  mainland,  it  being  our  intention  to  send  two  freights 
today,  one  on  the  morning  flood  and  another  on  the  afternoon.  After 
the  return  of  our  boat  she  was  again  freighted  and  sent  to  the  landing, 
this  being  the  second  freight  today. 

Thursday,  September  8,   1842. 

It  was  very  foggy  this  morning  and  our  boat  returned  late,  but 
was  immediately  freighted  and  sent  on  shore.  In  this  manner  the  time 
passed,  shipping  one  load  a  day,  oftener  two,  except  Sunday. 

On  Sunday,  September  11th,  we  made  an  excursion  to  the  Long 
Beach. 

Long  Beach  is  about  eight  miles  long,  a  continuous  exchange  of 
sand  dunes  and  ocean  strand.  And  we  have  heard  people  say  that  this 
stretch  of  seaboard  was  a  bleak,  dreary  and  unattractive  waste.  •  To 
this  we  beg  to  demur.     It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  first 

143 


impression  of  the  landscape  is  barrenness,  which  instead  of  being  dissi- 
pated, is  probably  intensified  by  the  sparse  vegetation  of  coarse  star- 
grass  with  here  and  there  a  sunny  patch  of  wild  flower  in  yellow  and 
red.  The  star-grass,  "Marrum"  or  sea  mat,  the  roots  of  which  pene- 
trated to  a  depth  of  thirty  feet  in  search  of  moisture,  is  a  great  protec- 
tion to  the  dunes  and  to  a  great  extent  preserves  the  form  and  durability 
of  the  hills. 

In  some  localities  on  our  sea  coast  where  the  sand  is  invading  the 
upland,  the  artificial  cultivation  of  marrum  has  stayed  the  invasion 
and  large  tracts  of  valuable  land  have  been  saved. 

We  differ  from  those  who  see  no  beauty  in  the  beach  landscape. 
As  a  whole,  the  strand,  the  dunes  and  the  associated  marsh  to  us  is  a 
landscape  of  unparalleled  attractiveness.  There  is  something  restful 
and  soothing  in  its  silence  and  stillness.  No  sound  save  that  of  the  mo- 
notonous old  ocean  upon  the  shingled  beach  in  front  of  the  sand  hills, 
and  the  ceaseless  cry  of  the  sea  gull  performing  its  graceful  evolutions 
overhead,  now  and  then  a  snipe;  but  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  ag- 
gregate effect  is  solitude. 

The  eye  cannot  penetrate  the  length  of  these  dunes  westward. 
They  melt  into  the  horizon  and  their  magnitude  is  intensified  with  an 
endless  variety  of  form. 

These  sand  hills  have  an  individuality.  They  are  unlike  any  other 
hills.  They  are  miniature  mountain  ranges,  as  unstable  as  the  waves 
of  the  ocean  beating  at  their  base.  They  encircle  deep  and  watered 
valleys,  having  a  soil  and  healthful  vegetation.  As  we  stand  on  one  of 
the  greatest  elevations  facing  westward,  on  our  immediate  right  (the 
north)  the  white  sand  shades  down  insensibly  by  increased  vegetation 
into  the  green  landscape  of  the  marsh  with  no  sharp  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  beach  and  marsh.  Next  beyond  to  the  north  comes  the 
West  Run,  a  wide  deep  passage  of  water,  like  a  trunk  canal;  it  dis- 
tributes all  the  waters  of  the  floods  and  ebbs  running  west  from  and 
east  to  New  Inlet.  Farther  still  to  the  right,  about  one  mile  distant,  by 
the  aid  of  a  field  glass  our  camp  is  distinctly  made  out.  Our  boat  that 
went  on  shore  last  night  is  just  returning  and  will  be  ready  for  another 
freight  tomorrow. 

On  the  other  side,  the  left,  is  the  strand  and  the  ocean,  and  here 
was  a  scene  difficult  to  describe,  but  of  unsurpassing  interest.  We 
counted  within  eye.  range  from  west  to  east  sixty-four  sailing  vessels, 
sloops  and  schooners,  coasters  belonging  to  the  various  ports  of  the  south 
side  of  Long  Island,  some  going  to,  others  returning  from.  New  York 
and  places  on  the  Hudson.  Farther  out  on  the  ocean  there  were  within 
sight  at  the  same  moment  eleven  square-rigged  ocean-going  craft,  some 
just  completing  their  maybe  long  and  tempestuous  voyage,  others  out- 
ward bound. 

There  was  a  good  full-sail  breeze  blowing  from  the  westward  and 
it  was  interesting  to  watch  the  change  in  position  of  the  westward 

144 


bound  coasters.  It  was  like  a  vast  regatta.  They  were  obliged  to 
beat;  one  tack,  "the  long  leg,"  would  be  off  shore,  and  "the  short  leg" 
on  shore.  On  the  on-shore  tack  some  of  them  would  stand  close  enough 
inshore  so  that  we  could  hear  the  man  in  the  jib  sheets  call  out  "let  her 
come,"  or  "helium  down"  when  in  his  judgment  they  were  close  enough 
inshore  for  safety,  and  this  vast  procession  lasted  until  in  the  afternoon. 
As  some  passed  out  of  sight  in  the  distance  others  came  in,  until  about 
five  o'clock  the  whole  coast  was  cleared,  not  a  boat  in  sight  save  those 
entering  our  port.  It  seemed  that  the  ocean  had  engulfed  them,  but 
that  was  not  so.  The  weather  outlook  was  threatening  and  they  had 
prudently  sought  shelter  in  the  side  ports  of  Long  Island. 

We  tramped  several  miles  along  the  beach,  feeling  little  or  no 
fatigue,  and  on  our  return  stopped  at  the  Hummocks,  where  a  large 
hut  had  been  erected  and  was  maintained ;  peradventure  it  might  prove 
a  shelter  to  some  poor  bayman,  or  maybe  to  some  wrecked  sailor.  There 
was  a  large  Indian  shell  heap  at  this  place,  before  referred  to.  The  hut 
was  occupied  by  Ize  Johnson,  with  general  consent  its  accepted  keeper. 

Ize  was  a  vagrant  throughout.  We  do  not  mean  a  vicious  loafer, 
but  a  dreamy  idler  who  takes  life  indifferently,  having  learned  the  Art 
of  Arts,  that  of  doing  without — a  cultivated  savage — this  is  no  contradic- 
tion— it  is  near  the  perfection  of  manhood. 

We  looked  in  the  hut,  but  did  not  enter;  the  atmosphere  was  far 
from  being  agreeable.  After  giving  Ize  all  the  tobacco  in  our  party,  we 
left  for  the  camp. 

The  weather  prognostications  for  tomorrow  were  bad. 

Monday,  September  12,  1842. 

At  six  A.  M.  we  were  afloat  with  rod  and  gun  to  make  a  day  for 
weakfish  in  Scow  Creek,  and  peradventure  any  winged  creature  that 
may  venture  within  our  range.    Weather  fair,  wind  S.  E. 

Returned  with  fifteen  pounds  of  weakfish  and  an  empty  gun. 
During  the  entire  nine  days  of  this  picnic  the  weather  was  remarkably 
fine.  We  had  but  one  short  storm,  many  fogs,  and  among  the  casualties 
worthy  of  mention  one  was  the  sinking  of  our  boat  with  a  freight  of 
hay  on.  It  happened  in  this  wise:  We  were  getting  ready  to  go  on 
shore  with  a  freight ;  a  strong  wind  was  blowing  from  the  northwest  and 
flood  tide  was  making  from  the  southeast.  The  boat  was  unmoored 
from  the  bank;  before  her  crew  were  ready  the  tide  swung  her  around 
against  the  strong  wind,  and  between  the  two  forces,  wind  and  tide, 
acting  in  counter  directions,  she  careened  over,  filled  with  water  and 
sank.  She  was  immediately  towed  to  shallow  water  and  unloaded.  By 
this  accident  one  trip  was  lost.  The  other  casualty  was  the  loss  of  a 
dinner  through  the  stupidity  of  our  cook.  He  upset  two  and  a  half 
gallons  of  clam  chowder  into  the  fire,  putting  out  the  fire,  putting  out 
the  chowder,  and  seriously  putting  the  workmen  out  of  temper,  who 
were  obliged  to  satisfy  their  hunger  upon  hardtack,  red  herring  and  a 
short  allowance  of  beans. 

145 


Wednesday,  September  14,  1842. 

The  second  marshing  week  was  enlivened  by  an  affair  in  the  bay 
which  might  have  ended  in  a  tragedy. 

It  had  been  a  custom  from  immemorial  time  for  vessels,  sloops  and 
schooners,  to  lay  at  anchor  in  Long  Creek  with  a  clam  basket  up  in  the 
shrouds — a  signal  that  they  were  there  for  trafficking  in  clams  and 
would  purchase,  with  cash,  all  that  were  brought  to  them.  This  was 
all  legitimate,  providing  the  sloops  and  schooners  belonged  to  the  ports 
of  the  South  Side,  and  that  those  who  caught  and  offered  the  clams 
for  sale  were  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

A  great  wrong  had  been  endured  by  the  townspeople  of  Hemp- 
stead, long  prior  to  1753  to  the  present,  for  on  the  13th  of  October, 
1753,  we  find  that  the  freeholders  of  the  town  at  a  town  meeting  at 
Hempstead  adopted  the  following  resolutions  which  embody  the  entire 
grievance : 

"Whereas,  a  great  many  Strangers  (without  any  Right,  Liberty 
"or  License  so  to  do),  and  also  some  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  said 
"Town,  have  lately  come  with  Canoes,  Boats  and  other  Vessels  into 
"the  Bays,  Creeks  and  Marshes  Situate  on  the  South  Side  of  the  Said 
"Township  and  there  Raked  and  Taken  and  wholly  Destroyed  Vast 
"Quantytys  of  Certain  Shell  fish  Called  Clams  with  Designe  chiefly 
"for  the  benefit  of  the  Shells  which  Havock  and  Wast  if  Continued  and 
"Suffered  will  tend  to  the  Total  Destruction  of  that  part  of  the  fishery 
"in  those  places  to  the  very  great  Loss  and  Detriment  of  the  Inhabi- 
"tants  of  the  Said  Town.  Especially  of  the  poorer  Sort  who  Daly 
"Receive  great  Benefit  and  Sustenance  from  the  Said  Fishery.  In  Order 
"for  the  Preventing  of  the  aforesaid  Mischife  and  Wrong  it  is  now  by 
"the  freeholders  of  the  Said  Town  with  the  Concurence  and  Desire  of 
"others  the  Inhabitants  agree  to  and  the  Right  Privilege  and  free  Liberty 
"of  the  piscary  and  fishery  of  Clams  in  the  aforesaid  plaise  is  hereby 
"given  and  granted  unto  James  Pine,  Leffert  Hogovout,  Colman  Comes 
"and  Abram  Bond  as  assignees  and  feoffers  in  Trust  for  the  use  and 
"benefit  of  the  aforesaid  freeholders  and  Inhabitants  and  in  respect  of 
"these  persons  who  Reside  in  the  Said  Town  and  do  do  the  futer  for 
"their  own  Covetious  humors  Continue  to  Make  Destruction  of  the 
"Said  fishery  in  manner  aforesaid  the  aforesaid  Trustees  are  to  agree 
"with  those  persons  and  assign  them  and  Space  where  to  take  clams  and 
"if  these  persons  will  neither  Disest  from  Destroying  the  Clams  in 
"manner  as  aforesaid  or  come  to  a  Reasonable  Agreement  then  in  that 
"case  the  Said  Assignees  or  Trustees  are  to  bring  them  to  An  Appor- 
"tionment  By  Law  or  Equity  as  they  in  their  Discretion  shall  think  fit 
"and  With  Respect  to  Straingers  and  Idel  persons  who  have  no  right 
"in  the  town  aforesaid  it  is  by  the  freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  Sd 
"Town  Ordered  that  for  Each  offence  as  above  said  they  shall  pay  a 
"fine  of  Twenty  Shillings  and  the  aforementioned  Trustees  are  Hereby 
"Impowered  to  Sue  for  the  Same  and  to  pay  themselves  for  their  Trouble 

146 


''Out  of  the  Said  fines  and  the  Overplush  Deliver  to  the  Church  War- 
"dens  for  the  Use  of  the  Poor." 

Records  of  the  Town  of  Hempstead, 

Liber  E,  Page  449, 

Re-Enacted  in  1769, 

And  subsequently  Amended. 

The  townspeople  had  suffered  these  outrages,  from  which  there 
seemed  no  relief,  for  a  long  time.  Legislation  had  been  tried  without 
avail. 

Yesterday,  September  13th,  when  the  South  Bay  was  swarming 
with  a  population  of  hay  gatherers,  a  large  strange  schooner  from  New 
Jersey  came  into  New  Inlet,  sailed  up  Long  Creek  and  came  to  anchor 
opposite  Skow  Creek.  Soon  after  she  hoisted  her  basket,  thus  declaring 
her  errand  and  soliciting  trade  of  the  native  baymen.  (The  news  im- 
mediately spread  among  the  marshers  that  the  strange  vessel  was  a 
pirate.)  This  was  an  aggravated  case,  inasmuch  that  she  came  with 
six  crews  for  clamming,  all  fully  equipped  with  the  latest  contrivances 
of  rakes  and  tongs  preparatory  for  stealing  a  cargo  of  clams,  and 
should  no  resistance  be  offered  to  do  so  peaceable,  but  forceably  if 
necessary. 

On  learning  these  facts  the  trustees  were  notified  and  they  pro- 
ceeded this  morning  to  enforce  the  law.  They  visited  the  schooner, 
followed  by  a  long  train  of  baymen  in  their  boats  and  a  whole  fleet  of 
marshmen. 

The  trustees  demanded  that  the  schooner,  being  engaged  in  an  un- 
lawful traffic,  immediately  depart  from  these  waters. 

To  this  demand  the  captain  bluntly  refused  to  comply,  declaring 
that  he  had  entered  the  port  in  stress  of  weather  for  water  and  pro- 
visions, that  he  "knew  his  rights  and  would  maintain  them  by  force 
against  a  gang  of  land  pirates  if  necessary."  This  was  impolitic  lan- 
guage, and  he  was  instantly  informed  by  the  indignant  marshers  and 
baymen  that  he  had  an  option  of  leaving  in  thirty  minutes,  or  they 
would  burn  his  vessel.  He  still  hesitated  and  wished  to  debate  his 
rights,  but  when  they  proceeded  to  carry  out  their  threat  he  then  hauled 
down  his  basket  and  was  out  of  the  inlet  in  an  hour. 

The  captain  of  this  schooner  had  a  crew  of  about  twenty  men, 
which  was  force  enough  on  any  ordinary  occasion  to  defy  or  overcome 
the  South  Side  authorities  with  their  immediately  available  force,  or 
put  out  to  sea  at  any  moment  when  danger  threatened.  But  he  had 
made  a  mistake  in  coming  into  the  bay  during  the  marshing  season.  He 
had  run  unwittingly  into  a  complete  ambush. 

The  people  of  Hempstead  had  suffered  too  long  these  thieving  in- 
cursions w^ithout  redress  to  allow  this  one  now  in  their  power  to  es- 
cape without  at  least  some  healthful  admonitions.  No  overt  act  had 
been  committed,  no  clams  had  been  taken  by  these  foreigners;  had 
there  been,  they  would  undoubtedly  have  been  confiscated.    The  prompt 

147 


and  determined  action  of  the  marshers  turned  the  threatened  bloody 
tragedy  of  the  New  Jersey  captain  into  a  one-act  comedy. 

Saturday,  September  17,  1842. 

Today  we  pulled  up  stakes  for  good.  During  all  this  marshing 
season  the  duty  had  been  imposed  upon  us  of  supplying  the  camp  with 
fish  and  fowl.  We  were  complimented  by  the  gang  for  our  success 
in  that  department,  with  a  chilling  rejoinder  from  the  cook,  who  had  a 
contempt  for  our  marksmanship,  that  he  had  never  known  game  fur- 
nished at  such  reckless  cost  of  materials.  We  did  not,  however,  ex- 
pect much  from  the  cook,  for  unpacific  relations  had  existed  between 
us  from  the  beginning,  in  consequence  of  our  kindly  suggesting  the  use 
of  more  soap  in  the  kitchen  economy. 

The  hired  men,  however,  were  not  very  particular  in  their  tastes, 
and  it  was  a  merciful  dispensation  that  they  were  not.  When  the 
Scotch  hostess  seized  the  cap  from  the  head  of  one  of  her  boys  and 
boiled  a  pudding  in  it  for  Sam  Johnson's  dinner  she  made  the  most  of 
her  resources,  and  we  will  charitably  think  that  our  cook  did  his  best 
with  his  limited  means. 

And  now  after  all  is  over,  so  agreeably  has  the  time  passed  that 
we  do  not  realize  that  we  have  been  away  at  all,  but  have  passed 
through  a  hazy  day-dream  with  no  recognition  of  time.  The  greatest 
pleasures  of  life  are  probably  those  which  come  unsought,  and  the 
delicious  unexpected  compromise  of  idleness  with  labor  was  all  disguised 
in  agreeable  results.  The  hustle  and  bustle  immediately  preceding  the 
departure  of  our  consignment  of  hay  for  the  mainland  and  the  delicious 
inactivity  as  we  watched  the  product  of  our  labor  glide  from  its  moorings 
and  with  a  brisk  south  wind  and  a  strong  flood  tide  speed  along  Skow 
Creek  toward  its  destination  to  add  one  more  load  to  our  acquisitions, 
was  indeed  a  pleasurable  leisure. 

There  are  no  delightful  landscapes  of  forest  and  lawn  embraced  in 
these  common  lands  to  enamour  the  lover  of  bower  and  shade,  but  these 
marshes  present  a  charming  vista  of  hazy  beauty  unlike  anything  else 
in  nature.  And  the  creeks,  the  waterways,  are  labyrinthian  and  present 
novelties  at  every  turn  unknown  to  the  most  noted  rivers  of  the  world. 

Wednesday,  October  5,  1842. 

Attended  the  sheep  parting  yesterday.  The  fair  was  much  the 
same  as  formerly  and  as  fully  described  in  another  place  in  these  remi- 
niscences. 

There  is  evidently  a  declining  interest  in  these  doings,  owing  prob- 
ably to  the  great  diminution  in  the  attendance  of  respectable  farmers, 
who  gave  character  and  interest  to  the  show,  many  of  whom  have  ceased 
keeping  sheep.  For  the  great  bulk  of  the  people  attending  sheep  parting 
did  not  go  because  they  had  sheep  to  look  after,  or  any  other  real  in- 
terest in  its  affairs.  But  it  is  very  evident  that  there  will  be  no  sheep 
parting  when  the  farmers  cease  keeping  sheep.    And  this  will  be  a  con- 

148 


summation  of  the  not  very  distant  future.  Morality  is  not  a  loser  by  its 
decadence. 

In  the  afternoon  a  great  storm,  not  in  the  programme,  came  up. 
It  was  accompanied  by  a  furfous  tornado  which  carried  aw^ay  the 
tents,  upset  the  booths,  and  the  rain  absolutely  soaked  the  assembled 
pleasure  seekers. 

My  father  fortunately  had  a  covered  wagon  on  this  occasion  into 
which  we  retired  with  some  invited  guests,  while  many  were  glad  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  shelter  afforded  by  getting  under  the  wagon, 
and  fortunate  indeed  it  was  that  our  wagon  had  been  put  in  our  private 
sheep  pen  with  its  back  to  the  northwest,  whence  the  squall  came,  else 
is  would  have  shared  the  fate  of  others,  i.e.,  blown  away.  My  father, 
in  consideration  for  the  old  horse,  took  him  from  the  wagon,  turned  up 
the  shafts  and  permitted  him  to  stand  with  his  nose  in  the  wagon,  thus 
sheltering  his  face  from  the  fury  of  the  storm.  The  old  horse  knew 
what  it  was  all  about  and  he  showed  his  appreciation  of  that  little  mark 
of  kindness  in  a  manner  as  unmistakable  as  if  he  spoke  it.  After  the 
storm  was  over  we  immediately  left  for  home.  Nobody  was  left  on  the 
ground  except  a  few  who  had  chattels  there  to  look  after  and  gather 
up,  and  those  who  were  too  boozy  to  get  away.  The  day  was  otherwise 
uneventful. 


149 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Saturday    Night    at    Milburn    Corners.— The    Trip   to    Sag    Harbor.— Sag 

Harbor   July   26,    1843.— SouthaxMpton.— The    Old 

Sayre  House. — Modern  Sag  Harbor. 

Saturday,  October  15,   1842. 

,ESTERDAY,  October  14th,  witnessed  the  great  Croton 
Water  Celebration  in  New  York.  It  was  the  grandest 
spectacle  ever  witnessed  in  the  city.  It  is  said  to  have 
even  excelled  the  famous  parade  had  on  the  completion  of 
the  Erie  Canal.  We  had  a  beautiful  location  for  seeing 
the  procession,  having  been  invited  to  the  store  of  a 
friend  on  Broadway  a  short  distance  above  Chambers  Street. 

The  procession  was  estimated  to  have  been  seven  miles  long,  with 
a  great  and  magnificent  display,  military  and  civic. 

All  trades  and  many  industries  were  represented  in  character. 
One  of  the  great  novelties  of  the  procession  was  a  car  bearing  the 
printing  press  on  which  Benjamin  Franklin  had  once  worked,  and 
on  which  were  printed  during  its  passage  in  the  procession  and  dis- 
tributed to  the  multitude,  copies  of  an  ode  written  for  the  occasion  by 
George  F.  Morris,  which  was  afterwards  sung  by  a  large  choir  from 
a  stage  erected  in  the  City  Hall  Park. 

The  route  of  the  procession  was  from  the  Battery  up  Broadway  to 
Union  Square,  where  Governor  Seward  viewed  the  troops.  The  proces- 
sion then  proceeded  down  the  Bowery  to  the  City  Hall,  and  after 
some  very  interesting  ceremonies  was  dismissed.  The  fountains  along 
the  route  were  playing  during  the  procession. 

Speeches  were  made  by  the  President  of  the  Water  Board,  the 
Governor  of  the  State  and  the  Mayor.  The  city  was  filled  with 
visitors;  there  were  never  so  many  strangers  in  New  York.  A  grand 
illumination  took  place  during  the  evening,  the  City  Hall  was  a  blaze 
of  fire  and  bunting,  and  the  day  ended  in  other  public  and  private 
festivities. 

Saturday,  'November  19,   1842. 

Every  Saturday  night  was  market  night,  and  there  was  a  general 
gathering  of  the  people  of  the  Neck  at  the  corner  (now  Milburn 
Corners). 

We  were  greatly  entertained  last  evening  at  the  store  of  Tred- 
well  &  Frost  (Milburn)  in  hearing  some  of  the  old  veteran  baymen 
and  gunners,   gathered  about  the  store  and  occupying  available  soap 

150 


boxes    and    barrel    heads,    relate    experiences    of    great    catches,    great 
shots  and  wonderful  flights  of  Avater  fowl. 

Ad  Carman  and  Dick  Smith  made  their  boasts  that  they  had  cut 
down  teal  flying  over  White  Hill  point  of  marsh  before  a  northwest 
gale  at  fifty  yards  distant  seven  times  out  of  ten,  and  Dick  Verity, 
with  sinful  sarcasm,  offered  to  put  up  the  bullion  that  he  would  bring 
home  more  birds  than  both  of  them  by  taking  his  chances  on  those 
which  they  missed.  There  was  no  reconciling  some  of  their  travestied 
statements,  nor  was  there  any  happy  middle  ground  or  average  on 
which  to  repose  between  their  extremes — not  falsehoods,  but  sarcasms. 
AH  were  agreed,  however,  that  the  old  veteran,  Raynor  Rock,  at 
birds  on  the  wing  in  rapid  flight,  was  the  most  reliable  shot  on  Long 
Island.  Uncle  Ben  Raynor  was  as  good  as  the  best  of  them  in  his  day, 
and  Ira  Pettit,  of  Christian  Hook,  had  had  an  enviable  reputation, 
now  far  past  his  prime.  John  Bedell  thought  he  could  average  up 
with  any  of  them  now. 

All  this  conversation  was  provoked  by  the  introduction  of  the  fact 
that  Thomas  Carman  of  Hick's  Neck  had  at  some  time  previous  killed 
thirty-four  black  ducks  by  one  discharge  of  his  fowling  piece.  This 
statement,  as  extraordinary  as  it  may  appear,  was  too  well  attested  to 
be  disputed.  It  created  quite  a  sensation  at  the  time.  The  Long  Island 
newspapers  and  the  city  papers  commented  upon  it,  but  some  credu- 
lous people  doubted  it.  Thomas  Carman  was  an  entirely  trustworthy 
man  and  his  word  may  be  relied  upon,  and  he  vouches  for  its  truth. 
We  well  remember  the  event,  *  but  cannot  now  give  the  date.  The 
explanation,  however,  going  with  the  statement  being  that  the  ducks 
were  caught  in  a  rift  of  the  thin  ice  which  was  gradually  closing  as  the 
two  bodies  of  ice  moved  up  with  the  flood  tide,  until  in  direct  range 
from  Carman's  blind,  and  his  shot  raked  the  entire  flock. 

These  baymen  never  use  double  barrelled  guns,  but  carry  two 
single  barrels,  and  after  discharging  one  into  a  flock,  put  the  other 
in  commission  to  take  the  rising  birds.  In  this  case  Carman  seized 
his  other  gun,  but  no  birds  arose;  he  had  killed  the  whole  flock,  but  it 
was  found  on  examination  that  six  of  the  birds  had  been  drowned 
under  the  ice,  where-  they  dove  after  being  wounded.  This  kind  of 
entertainment  is  not  of  the  true  sporting  man's  hankering;  it  is  whole- 
sale slaughter. 

The  refinement  and  glory  of  a  sportsman  is  not  wanton  destruc- 
tion of  life;  genuine  sporting  is  an  inherited  and  humane  accom- 
plishment, and  a  man  must  be  born  to  it  as  certain  as  he  must  be 
born  a  poet.  A  man  may  be  taught  to  make  a  hole  as  wide  as  a  barn 
door  in  a  flock  of  ox-eye  snipe  and  gather  half  a  bushel  of  birds  as 
a  result,  or  reward,  of  his  contingent  luck  shot,  or  he  may  wing-break 
a  half-starved  pigeon  sprung  from  a  trap  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  off; 
but  to  stop  a  vigorous  and  healthy  teal  cutting  through  the  keen 
frosty  air  of  autumn,  at  daybreak,  at  the  rate  of  eighty  miles  an  hour, 

151 


or  to  get  a  bead  on  a  frightened  woodcock  as  he  flashes  through  the 
opening  of  a  thicket  of  underbrush,  entitles  a  man  to  a  seat  among 
the  elders.  It  takes  an  eye,  a  hand  and  a  heart  which  science  cannot 
create.  *'It  is  born,"  says  Squire  Bob  Akeley.  "Reading  and  writing 
are  inflictions  of  the  schoolmaster,  but  a  crack  shot  is  the  work  of  God." 
Among  the  shooting  legends  of  Long  Island,  one  was  related  of 
a  Bellport  sportsman  slaying  one  hundred  and  six  yellow  leg  snipe 
sitting  on  the  beach  by  discharging  both  barrels  into  them.  But  Mr. 
Audubon,  the  great  naturalist,  once  condoned  such  an  offense.  He 
says  he  was  present  when  one  hundred  and  twenty  red  breasted  snipe 
were  killed  by  discharging  three  barrels  into  an  enormous  flock  of 
them. 

Many  were  the  marvelous  feats  of  powder  and  shot  related  by 
these  amphibious,  tarpaulin-skinned  baymen,  whose  sense  of  humor  is 
as  keen  as  their  instincts  in  hunting.  And  their  adroitness  in  turning 
the  statements  of  another  into  ridicule  was  unique  and  racy,  but  their 
wit  and  sarcasm  were  show^n  to  the  best  advantage  in  describing  the 
presumptuous  methods  of  a  city  Nimrod  in  taking  wild  fowl. 

The  subsistence  and  being  of  these  people  is  with  the  bay.  It 
pervades  their  entire  lives,  and  when  they  are  not  engaged  in  gunning, 
or  in  talking  and  speculating  upon  spring  flights  of  snipe,  autumn 
arrivals  of  sea  fowl,  nor  dissertating  upon  marvelous  hoardes  of  wild 
pigeons,  then  they  were  either  fishing  or  talking  of  fishing,  at  which 
latter  they  were  equally  expert. 

It  is  not  always  a  salutary  subject  with  South  Siders,  but  we 
venture  the  statement  generally  that  the  most  successful  gunner  and 
fisher  is  not  infrequently  tainted  with  Algonkin  blood.  Hecatombs 
of  sea  fowl,  willet,  marlin,  curlew  and  plover,  have  fallen  victims  to 
the  pleasure  and  profit  of  these  craftsmen. 

It  was  the  verdict  of  the  audience  at  the  store  that  ordinary  duck 
shooting  was  failing;  nothing  short  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  birds 
could  be  considered  a  successful  day's  work,  and  in  the  season,  which 
is  short,  there  are  at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  professionals  hunt- 
ing, and  twice  that  number  of  amateurs,  on  the  south  side  of  Long 
Island  alone.  The  birds  are  getting  scarce,  but  man  pursues  them 
from  Florida  to  Maine  on  their  migration,  during  which  time  they  are 
constantly  under  fire.     Annihilation  is  already  in  sight. 

We  may  safely  say  that  where  we  have  seen  the  South  Bay  alive 
with  web-footed  denizens,  there  is  not  at  this  time  (1880)  one  where 
there  were  thousands.  When  Thomas  Carman,  Floyd  Smith  and  Dick 
Verity  would  take  a  skiff  load  of  coot,  duck  and  sheldrake  in  a  day,  their 
great-grandsons,  with  all  the  latest  and  most  modern  equipments  of  de- 
struction, would  have  a  struggle  to  bag  (this  is  a  modern  invention;  it 
took  the  place  of  the  wheelbarrow  as  a  game  receptacle)  enough  for 
Sunday  dinner,  and  still  growing  rarer.     Within  the  memory  of  men 

152 


now  living,  over  fifty  varieties  of  ducks  frequented  Long  Island;  now 
there  are  not  half  that  number. 

We  have  seen  the  November  air  thick  with  wild  pigeons,  so  manj' 
that  it  was  neither  sport  nor  profit  to  shoot  them.  To  the  present 
generation  of  Hempstead  South  the  wild  pigeon  is  (1880)  unknown, 
except  the  dressed  and  cooked  variety.  And  the  change  was  brought 
about  chiefly  by  the  rapacity  and  indiscretion  of  man.  Of  a  frosty 
morning  in  the  fall  of  1846  we  have  seen  the  woods  of  John  Tredwell 
and  William  Bedell  swarm  with  wild  pigeons.  There  were  millions 
of  them.  In  1863  there  were  none  worthy  of  mention,  and  in  1880 
specimens  for  naturalists  could  with  difficulty  be  obtained.  Of  birds, 
few  existed  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  such  numbers  as  the  wild 
pigeon,  and  none  have  become  extinct  so  quickly.  It  is  now  entirely 
a  creature  of  the  past. 

Friday,  July  1,  1843. 

Events  for  record  have  not  crowded  themselves  upon  us  for  the 
past  twelve  months  and  the  ordinary  meteorological  notes  on  the  weather 
as  cold,  hot,  fair  and  stormy  days  have  become  too  monotonous  for  a 
popular  journal. 

But  the  ordinary  has  reached  a  climax,  a  turning  point,  and  the 
unexpected  has  happened.  Yesterday  was  an  epochal  day,  a  day  from 
which  to  date  a  new  era  in  electrical  phenomena.  It  was  pre-eminently 
a  day  of  thunderstorms;  nature  had  broken  restraint;  every  spot  seemed 
to  be  a  storm  center.  The  electrical  disturbances  began  in  the  morning 
and  continued  at  short  intervals  until  evening,  ending  in  a  storm  of 
painful  severity. 

The  clearing  up  storm  was  the  most  remarkable  we  have  ever 
know^n,  both  in  fierceness  and  in  duration.  The  accompanying  tornado 
we  have  since  been  informed  had  a  width  of  only  a  few  hundred  yards, 
but  it  unroofed  houses  and  barns,  blew  down  chimneys,  trees  and  de- 
stroyed crops.  The  lightning  was  incessant,  the  sky  was  a  blaze  of 
fire.  It  struck  in  many  places.  It  struck  and  burned  Jarvis  Seaman*s 
barn  and  contents,  with  horses;  it  struck  and  killed  a  man  and  horse 
at  the  head  of  Coe's  Neck  who  had  sought  the  shelter  of  a  large  oak 
tree  standing  in  the  road;  it  struck  in  many  other  places  in  its  course 
with  equally  serious  effect,  the  details  of  which  have  not  yet  reached  us. 
The  thunder  and  lightning  were  phenomenal  for  half  an  hour.  It 
was  a  continuous  bombardment,  and  yet  it  was  only  a  local  storm.  It 
came  up  from  the  west;  in  the  meantime,  as  the  storm  approached,  it 
was  blowing  a  young  hurricane  from  the  southeast  and  hot  as  a 
sirocco.  It  did  not  seem  threatening  at  first,  but  it  became  very 
dark  and  increased.  It  followed  the  seacoast,  never  extending  inland 
more  than  two  miles.  Raynortown,  Merrick,  Amityville,  Babylon, 
Islip  and  Patchogue  all  bear  marks  of  its  violence.  By  the  time  it 
reached  Patchogue  it  was  carrying  everything  before  it,  houses,  barns, 
trees,  fences,  orchards  and  crops  were  demolished. 

II  153 


Patchogue  and  vicinity  were  the  greatest  sufferers,  although  the 
whole  course  of  the  tornado  was  marked  with  ruin.  At  this  place  it 
deflected  and  passed  out  to  sea.  It  swept  the  Great  South  Bay,  lashing 
its  shallow  waters  into  a  fury,  and  did  great  damage  to  the  small  craft. 
We  have  heard  of  no  damage  at  sea  and  there  probably  w^as  none.  The 
succession  of  storms  and  the  threatening  weather  during  the  day  gave 
timely  warning  to  keep  out  of  its  track,  which  they  probably  did. 

Thursday,  July  20,   1843. 

It  now  being  our  vacation,  we  were  informed  that  some  business 
of  a  family  nature  was  to  be  transacted  at  Sag  Harbor  and  that  the 
option  of  this  mission  was  offered  to  us,  and  it  would  be  necessary  to 
leave  tomorrow  (July  20th). 

Today  we  were  driven  to  Merrick,  about  five  miles  from  Hemp- 
stead on  the  turnpike,  to  intercept  the  Sag  Harbor  mail  stage,  which 
leaves  Brooklyn  every  Thursday  morning  at  9  A.  M.  At  2.30  P.  M. 
the  stage  arrived  at  Merrick  at  Hewlett's  Corner,  opposite  the  resi- 
dence of  Doctor  Wheeler.  The  stage  was  full,  but  room  was  made 
for  us  on  top  with  the  driver.  From  Merrick  to  Amityville  the  dis- 
tance is  about  six  miles  (we  get  the  distances  from  the  stage  driver). 
The  road  was  very  dusty.  On  reaching  Amityville  two  passengers  got 
out  at  South  Side  Hotel,  which  enabled  us  to  get  a  seat  inside.  This 
was  more  enjoyable  than  the  outside  in  the  sun,  and  we  took  our  book 
out  to  read,  but  the  attractions  of  the  country  were  much  greater  than 
the  book.  It  is  a  singularly  interesting  piece  of  country;  its  contiguity 
to  the  ocean  is  the  attractive  feature.  And  then  we  had  a  traveling 
companion  who  took  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  make  himself  ridiculous 
in  relating  his  marvelous  traveling  experiences;  he  had  visited  many 
countries,  and  did  all  the  talking,  his  hearers  the  thinking.  During 
the  afternoon  we  had  a  glorious  shower,  which  laid  the  dust  and  made 
the  traveling  more  agreeable.  We  arrived  at  Babylon  at  6.30  P.  M. 
Here  we  put  up  for  the  night  at  Carll's  Hotel,  Main  Street. 

Babylon  (Sunguam's  Neck)  is  a  thriving  village,  with  a  general 
air  of  business  pervading  it.  The  people  get  up  early  and  appear  to 
have  something  to  do,  and  set  themselves  about  to  do  it. 

Friday,  July  21,  1843. 

We  were  called  for  an  early  start  this  morning  and  we  left  without 
breakfast.  Our  tedious  and  loquacious  companion  left  us  at  Babylon 
and  the  last  we  saw  of  him  he  was  disputing  with  a  local  hackman 
about  fare  to  a  certain  place  due  north  from  Babylon,  the  hackman  con- 
tending that  the  distance  was  fifteen  miles,  our  traveled  friend  insisting 
with  all  the  force  of  geographical  facts  on  his  side  that  you  can't  go 
due  north,  or  south,  from  any  point  on  Long  Island  fifteen  miles  with- 
out driving  off;  that's  where  we  left  him. 

The  rain  of  yesterday  made  the  ride  of  this  morning  delightful. 
The  distance  to  Islip  was  five  miles  and  we  had  a  constant  view  of 
the  Great  South  Bay  and  ocean  beyond,  and  the  distance  was  soon  gone 

154 


over.  No  stop  was  made  at  Isllp  except  to  water  horses  and  leave  the 
mail.  We  were  soon  on  the  road  to  Patchogue  (Porchog),  a  distance 
from  Islip  of  eleven  miles,  and  nearly  all  the  way  in  full  sight  of  the 
ocean  and  an  endless  expanse  of  sand  hills,  going  through  Bayshore 
and  Sayville,  both  thriving  looking  and  well  groomed  little  places.  At 
Patchogue,  which  we  reached  at  about  10  A.  M.,  we  took  breakfast 
and  changed  horses. 

Patchogue  w^as  named  from  a  tribe  of  Indians  who  made  it  their 
headquarters.  It  is  a  lively  little  town  of  about  seven  hundred  in- 
habitants with  a  number  of  hotels  and  some  manufactories.  Its  great- 
est merit  being  that  it  is  located  upon  the  great  thoroughfare  from 
Brooklyn  to  Sag  Harbor,  and  several  other  stage  lines.  It  has  two 
important  business  streets.  Main  Street  and  Ocean  Avenue,  and  it  has 
a  considerable  coasting  traffic.  Two  of  our  company  left  here,  and  one 
got  on.  After  breakfast  we  started  for  the  next  stopping  place,  Fire 
Place.  Did  not  stop  at  Bellport,  a  much  more  important  place,  but  a 
little  off  the  road. 

Fire  Place,  formerly  Connetquot,  was  distant  from  Patchogue 
nine  miles,  where  we  arrived  at  3  P.  M.  One  of  our  passengers  left 
here.  After  leaving  the  mails  for  Fire  Place,  St.  George's  Manor  and 
Mastic,  we  proceeded  on  to  Moriches.  Fire  Place  is  a  small  hamlet  of 
six  or  eight  private  houses,  a  hotel,  church  and  schoolhouse,  the  rest 
being  mills.  It  is  a  tidy  looking  place  nestled  among  willows  and  on  the 
edge  of  a  great  forest,  a  charming  place  for  retirement,  or  a  recluse. 
Moriches  is  distant  six  miles  over  a  territory  where  the  leading  impres- 
sion is  barrenness  and  sand.  We  arrived  at  3  P.  M.,  left  the  mail, 
changed  horses  and  were  off  again  for  Quogue  (also  called  Quanqua- 
nantuck)  (the  termination  ogue  in  Indian  proper  names  on  Long  Island 
means  fish)^  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  where  w^e  arrived  at  8  P.  M. 
and  remained  all  night.  Just  before  we  reached  Quogue  we  struck  a 
strong  southeast  wind  loaded  with  moisture;  it  set  us  shivering. 

Saturday,  July  22,  1843. 

Had  an  early  breakfast  and  were  off  again  before  sunrise,  while 
the  lighthouse  at  Shinnecock  Point  was  yet  flashing  its  rays.  Our 
next  stopping  place  will  be  Southampton,  a  random  village  built  along 
a  wide  street  two  miles  long  called  Main  Street.  It  is  distant  nine 
miles  from  Quogue.  Southampton  has  a  reputation  and  a  history.  The 
travel  today  was  slow;  the  road  was  heavy,  but  we  had  no  dust.  The 
landscape  was  interesting,  but  a  desert  of  sand,  with  a  few  green  patches 
to  relieve  it.  It  was  a  chromo  landscape.  A  short  stop  only  was  made 
at  Southampton  and  we  hurried  on  to  Bridgehampton,  a  distance  of  six 
miles,  'over  which  we  passed  without  incident,  except  a  little  hamlet, 
ironically  called  a  centre  of  civilization,  through  which  we  passed,  but 
did  not  stop.  We  were,  however,  in  review  of  the  entire  population 
of  men,  women  and  dogs.  From  the  glances  we  obtained  of  the  motely 
crowd  should  say  that  they  were  of  that  class  of  the  human  family 

155 


called  primitive.  We  did  not  see  a  pair  of  shoes  among  them;  they 
were  all  barefoot  and  nearly  bareback,  and  appear  to  have  solved  the 
great  philosophy  of  Diogenes,  "getting  along  without  things." 

A  short  stop  at  Bridgehampton ;  we  then  pass  tract  after  tract  of 
territory  marked  on  the  school  geography  barren,  and  arrived  at  Sag 
Harbor  at  4  P.  M. 

Sag  Harbor  is  indebted  for  its  name  to  Saggabonac  (meaning  the 
place  of  ground  nuts),  a  little  place  near  Bridgehampton,  for  short 
called  Sagg,  and  Sag  Harbor,  being  the  seaport  of  Sagg,  was  baptized 
Sag  Harbor. 

We  immediately  called  upon  Captain  Budd,  to  whom  we  were 
accredited.  Our  business  was  put  down  for  the  early  part  of  the  week. 
Captain  Budd  to  notify  other  parties  in  the  matter,  the  object  of  our 
visit.  This  was  satisfactory  to  us,  as  it  would  give  us  time  (nearly  a 
week)  to  do  up  the  town  and  possibly  to  visit  Montauk. 

Sag  Harbor  is  not  an  accident;  it  is  a  considerable  village,  situated 
directly  on  the  bay,  with  ample  water  for  all  maritime  purposes.  It 
has  a  population  of  about  three  thousand  and  five  hundred  souls,  and 
considering  that  it  is  a  seaport  and  its  population  consists  largely  of 
sailors,  it  is  orderly.  The  village  consists  of  one  principal  street  (Main 
Street),  pretty  solidly  built  upon  for  several  blocks,  and  on  which  its 
business  is  transacted,  with  many  side  streets  of  private  residences.  On 
Saturday,  the  day  of  our  arrival,  it  certainly  made  a  lively  show  for 
business.  It  was  the  market  day  for  the  country  people,  who  came 
from  miles  around,  and  country  wagons  and  "hayseeders"  possessed 
the  town. 

Two  whalers  have  arrived  within  the  past  fortnight  and  are 
lying  at  the  wharf,  and  one  out  in  the  harbor  ready  to  sail  for  the 
Pacific  on  Monday.  The  arrival  or  departure  of  one  ship  gives  Sag 
Harbor  an  excuse  for  going  busy,  but  there  are  three  here  now  and 
the  business  of  the  town  essays  New  York  activity.  The  financial  and 
commercial  importance  of  Sag  Harbor  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  its 
size  and  population.  It  has  a  population  of  about  thirty-five  hundred, 
many  dry  goods  stores,  grocery  stores,  outfitting  stores  for  whalers,  with 
ship  chandlery  stores  and  others.  Sag  Harbor  has  about  $1,000,000 
invested  in  the  whaling  and  codfishing  business,  and  has  many  packets 
and  vessels  engaged  in  the  coasting  trade.  The  income  from  its  in- 
vestments is  about  $15,000,000  annually;  the  profits  arising  therefrom 
mostly  remain  in  Sag  Harbor.  Last  year  there  were  twenty-five  arrivals 
of  successful  whalers  at  the  port  and  thirty-five  departures.  There 
were  8,000  quintals  of  codfish  shipped  from  this  port,  the  result  of  the 
codfish  enterprise.  Sag  Harbor  is  the  oldest  port  of  customs  in  the 
State  of  New  York  and  the  oldest  principality  on  Long  Island.  Henry 
P.  Bering  was  appointed  Port  Collector  by  George  Washington  in 
1790,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death  in  1832  at  the  age  of  91. 

The  first  known  settlement  within  the  present  corporate  limits  of 

156 


Sag  Harbor  was  by  a  small  party  of  Narragansett  Indians  for  fishing, 
about  1697.  They  were  located  at  the  head  of  the  Long  Wharf  and 
the  junction  of  what  now  is  Main  and  Water  Streets.  The  white 
settlers  began  to  mix  in  with  them  in  1730.  This  settlement  was  first 
called  Sterling  Bay,  subsequently  changed  to  Sag  Harbor.  The  country 
about  here  was  at  this  time  a  wilderness,  and  the  settlers  were  of  a 
low  order,  engaged  in  the  hardy  industry  of  the  sea,  living  in  huts. 
The  settlement  increased  without  order  or  government;  boat  whaling 
was  instituted  here,  and  settlers  were  held  together  by  a  community  of 
interests.  It  soon  began  to  attract  attention  and  a  better  class  of 
settlers  came  in,  built  better  dwellings  and  a  church  was  erected  and 
laws  enacted.  It  became  a  commercial  factor  and  in  1760  the  first 
sea-going  vessel  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  whales,  and  from  1767  to  the 
present,  1843,  Sag  Harbor  ranked  as  the  second  in  importance  of 
whaling  ports  in  the  United  States.  There  are  now  sixty-five  first 
class  ships  engaged  in  the  industry  and  they  have  made  lively  pages  in 
the  history  of  Sag  Harbor.  The  first  newspaper  printed  on  Long 
Island  was  at  Sag  Harbor  by  David  Frothingham,  called  "The  Long 
Island  Herald."  In  1802  Samuel  Osborne  published  it  under  the 
title  of  "The  Suffolk  County  Herald."  In  1804  Alden  Spooner  took 
charge  and  changed  its  name  to  "The  Suffolk  Gazette."  Mr.  Spooner 
continued  to  publish  the  "Gazette"  until  1811,  when  he  removed  to 
Brooklyn  and  commenced  the  publication  of  "The  Long  Island  Star." 

In  the  course  of  our  conversations  with  Captain  Budd  during  our 
stay  he  made  this  remark:  "That  a  calamity  was  imminent  with  the 
whaling  business.  Whales  are  getting  scarce,  the  profits  are  getting 
smaller  and  the  expenses  greater,  and  that  he  was  shortening  sail." 

Of  the  inhabitants  of  Sag  Harbor  as  a  class  little  can  be  said. 
They  are  just  what  one  would  suppose  from  a  population  made  up  in 
the  manner  they  were;  there  is  no  marked  famous  or  infamous  class. 
But  there  are  many  learned  and  cultured  people  here  brought  here 
through  interest,  and  it  was  this  class  that  gave  status  and  character 
to  Sag  Harbor  society.  There  are  many  wealthy  and  respectable  citizens 
of  Sag  Harbor  who  commenced  their  career  as  ordinary  seamen  and 
rose  to  the  rank  of  commanders,  who  are  now  retired  capitalists,  and 
who  still  maintain  that  the  highest  honors  belong  to  those  who  have 
passed  and  graduated  through  the  curriculum  of  a  voyage  around 
Cape  Horn. 

As  a  school  for  the  study  of  ethnology  and  philology  New  Bedford 
is  the  only  port  in  the  United  States  that  outranks  Sag  Harbor.  Nearly 
every  insular  nation  of  the  globe  is  represented  in  their  population,  and 
many  languages  spoken. 

Sunday,  July  23,  1843. 

Weather  very  warm  this  morning.  Took  a  walk  from  foot  of 
Main  Street  up  to  Jefferson  Street,  crossed  over  to  the  cemetery  and 
back  to  the  hotel,  the  weather  being  too  hot  for  an  extended  ramble. 

157 


In  the  afternoon  walked  up  Division  Avenue  and  Easthampton 
Turnpike,  led  on  by  a  feeling  of  loneliness,  the  novel  scenery,  and 
the  many  pretty  suburban  residences,  some  palatial  mansions,  many 
of  the  little  cottages  vi^ith  graceful  verandas  and  charming  green  gar- 
dens, and  yet  in  the  midst  of  all  this  beauty  we  w^ere  sad;  the  truth 
is,  vi^e  were  homesick,  and  for  the  first  time  we  began  to  realize  it. 
We  were  a  long  way  from  home;  at  least  twelve  days  intervened 
between  us  and  home  and  friends.  We  walked  down  the  turnpike 
towards  East  Hampton.  Our  thoughts  must  have  been  kindred  to 
those  which  moved  the  young  Ishmalite,  John  Howard  Payne,  as  he 
stood  alone  in  laughing  Paris,  in  tears,  whose  ''Home  Sweet  Home" 


A^^%^^-. 


,.-^#1^ 


3<>^n\< 


«4j. 


has  rendered  East  Hampton,  only  three  miles  distant  from  where  we 
now  stand  and  where  Payne  was  born,  immortal. 

Wednesday,  July  26,  1843. 

But  with  all  the  positive  attractions  of  business,  bustle  and  activity 
of  Sag  Harbor,  we  are  repelled  by  its  negative  attractions.  Its 
odoriferous  atmosphere  of  whale  oil  and  codfish  fail  to  inspire  us,  and 
we  seek  relief  now  that  we  have  closed  the  business  which  called  us  here. 

Today  we  fortuitously  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Southampton 
farmer  by  the  name  of  Bishop  who  had,  he  Informed  us,  just  disposed 
of  his  load  of  hay  and  was  about  to  return  to  Southampton  in  ballast, 
that  is,  one  barrel  of  molasses  and  ten  bags  of  shot  consigned  to  a 
storekeeper  at  Southampton.  We  shipped  with  him  for  the  voyage,  of 
which  we  sadly  repented.  His  old  wagon  was  without  springs  and 
added  to  the  clatter  of  the  shelvings,  took  all  the  romance  out  of  the 


158 


trip,  and  when  we  arrived  at  Southampton  we  were  too  lame  to  get 
out  of  the  wagon  without  assistance.  Mr.  Bishop,  however,  very 
kindly  offered  to  keep  us  at  his  home  during  our  stay  in  Southampton, 
and  at  the  same  time  suggested  that  on  Saturday  morning  he  was  going 
to  Quogue  with  a  load  of  straw,  and  if  we  so  desired,  might  accompany 
him  to  that  place,  remarking  that  the  roads  were  heavy  and  while  our 
carpet  bag  might  have  a  berth  on  the  straw,  we  would  be  obliged  to 
walk  a  portion  of  the  way.  This  presented  no  obstacles  to  us  and  we 
accepted  thankfully. 

Thursday,  July  27,  1843. 

Our  purposes  in  coming  to  Southampton,  which  is  a  charming 
place  to  look  upon,  were  twofold,  first,  to  escape  the  odors  of  Sag  Har- 
bor; second,  that  our  ancestors  originally  settled  in  Southampton  (for- 
merly Agawam).  Southampton  was  originally  settled  by  a  band  of 
fighting  Puritans  under  the  leadership  of  one  Captain  Daniel  How,  in 
1641  (simultaneously  with  Southold),  who  came  from  Lynn  and 
settled  at  Cow  Bay  ('T  Schouts  Baie),  from  which  they  were  driven 
by  the  Ehitch.  July  27th  and  28th  were  spent  at  Southampton  in 
researches  and  enquiries  concerning  our  family  (who  came  from 
Ipswich),  but  reached  the  conclusion  that  when  the  Tred wells  left 
Southampton  or  Southold  they  had  just  cause  for  so  doing,  and  that 
they  brought  everything  with  them  that  belonged  to  them. 

To  pass  our  time  as  agreeably  and  profitably  as  possible  with  this 
clever  people,  we  called  upon  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  a  very  old  man 
and  a  cyclopedia  of  history,  who  had  been  in  office  thirty-eight  years. 
He  was  a  twin  brother  of  the  sexton;  the  aggregate  of  their  ages  was 
one  hundred  and  seventy  years.  It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  the 
sterling  virtues  of  these  two  faithful  public  servants  were  not  likely  to 
be  perpetuated  in  their  descendants,  they  both  being  bachelors. 

We  explored  the  place  pretty  thoroughly  and  were  charmed  with 
the  evidences  of  antiquity,  cleanliness  and  holiness  which  pervaded  every- 
where. But  its  out-of-door  antiquity  is  "sickened  o'er  with  the  pale 
cast  of  modernity."  New  and  modern  structures  were  sandwiched  in 
among  the  old  and  venerable  remains,  whose  duration  is  measured  by 
centuries,  but  the  old  in  the  main  is  master  of  the  field  and  its  antique 
character  is  dominant. 

Among  the  many  historic  old  residences  of  Southampton  the  most 
noted  is  the  Sayre  house,  located  at  the  junction  of  Main  Street  and 
the  road  leading  to  the  North  Sea  and  Southold.  This  old  structure 
was  built  in  1648  by  Thomas  Sayre  and  is  tenantable  yet.  Opposite 
this  are  the  two  notable  old  houses,  one  the  Pelletreau  house  and  the 
other  known  as  the  Johnes  house.  Their  gables  and  moss-covered 
roofs  for  many  succeeding  years  have  shown  but  little  change,  save  the 
soft  and  gentle  hand  of  decay. 

The  Sayre  house  is  still  in  the  Sayre  family,  having  passed  through 
six  generations  of  that  family.    In  the  line  of  the  Sayre  family  was  one 

159 


Stephen  Sayre,  born  in  Southampton  in  1745.  He  was  conspicuous  for 
his  personal  beauty.  During  the  American  Revolution  he  was  a  pro- 
nounced Whig.  He  made  a  visit  to  England  in  1775  as  confidential 
agent  of  the  government.  He  gained  admission  to  the  best  society  and 
married  an  English  lady  of  rank,  by  whom  he  obtained  a  handsome  for- 
tune. He  entered  into  financial  and  commercial  business,  which  with 
his  engaging  manners  caused  him  to  be  chosen  High  Sheriff  of  London. 
By  his  advocacy  of  the  American  cause  and  open  opposition  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Crown  he  was  arrested  under  a  charge  of  high  treason 
and  was  thrown  into  the  Tower.    Mr.  Sayre  heard  the  summons  with 


'OxSr^av^fT^oviSt,  Ai^\_AA    xCMT" 


composure  and  obeyed  its  dictators  with  manly  dignity  and  perfect 
reliance  upon  his  innocence.  He  smiled  at  the  malignity  of  the  charge 
and  permitted  the  officers  to  search  his  tables  and  rifle  his  bureau.  They 
conducted  him  to  Lord  Rochford,  where  he  also  found  Sir  John 
Fielding.  The  charge  in  the  writ  was  that  Mr.  Sayre  had  expressed 
an  intention  of  seizing  the  King's  person  as  he  went  to  the  Parliament 
House.  The  charge  was  not  sustained  and  Mr.  Sayre  was  released, 
and  he  prosecuted  for  a  malicious  persecution. 

After  remaining  many  years  in  London  as  a  banker  and  broker,  he 
came  to  America  and  purchased  a  plantation  on  the  Delaware  River 
at  Bordentown,  New  Jersey,  which  after  his  death  was  purchased  by 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  formerly  King  of  Spain,  upon  which  he  erected  a 
splendid  mansion,  which  is  now  standing. 

As  we  had  not  relished  the  odors  of  the  Sag  Harbor  atmosphere, 

160 


so  we  were  not  in  sympathy  with  the  surviving  Puritan  atmosphere  of 
Southampton,  and  we  resolved  to  try  Quogue. 

Puritanism  is  a  persistent  and  enduring  type  of  humanity;  it  is 
full  of  godliness  and  as  devoid  of  manliness.  The  old  rules  for  training 
children  two  hundred  years  ago  prevail  today,  but  children  rebel,  and 
once  beyond  the  tyranny  of  home  and  church,  lose  the  effects  of  their 
unnatural  training.  With  all  the  eulogisms  upon  Puritanism,  it  has  but 
one  quality  worth  perpetuity  and  that  is  its  persistency,  and  that  has 
two  poles,  a  positive  and  a  negative,  one  for  good  and  the  other  for  evil. 

A  resolution  of  the  town  meeting  of  1653  ordered:  "That  if  any 
person  over  fourteen  years  of  age  shall  be  convicted  of  wilful  lying  by 
the  testimony  of  two  witnesses,  he  shall  be  fined  five  shillings  or  set  in 
the  stocks  for  five  hours." 

They  had  laws  punishing  every  phase  of  immorality,  for  drunken- 
ness and  gambling  a  fine  of  ten  and  sixpence,  or  three  hours  in  the  stocks. 
The  cost  of  these  luxuries  to  malefactors  was  to  be  doubled  for  a 
second  indulgence,  a  wonderful  commentary  on  their  tendency  to  crime. 

Saturday,  July  29,  1843. 

Had  a  pleasant  trip  to  Quogue.  The  walk  was  less  painful  than 
the  ride  from  Sag  Harbor  to  Southampton,  and  did  not  leave  the 
results.  Have  determined  to  remain  at  Quogue  until  the  stage  leaves 
on  Tuesday.  While  at  Quogue  we  stopped  at  the  boarding  house  of 
Mr.  Cooper  and  fortuitously  made  the  acquaintance  of  Hon.  George 
Hall,  formerly  Post  Master  and  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  who 
was  summering  here.  We  fraternized ;  there  was  a  degree  of  frankness 
and  kindness  in  Mr.  Hall's  manner  that  won  our  confidence.  He  has 
a  great  consideration  for  young  people.    We  walked  together. 

P.  S. — ^And  an  acquaintance  was  formed  which  lasted  until  Mayor 
Hall's  death  in  1868. 

Tuesday,  August  1,  1843. 

We  were  fortunate  in  securing  a  back  seat  in  the  stage.  The 
romance  of  the  country  failed  to  overcome  our  weariness  and  we 
at  once  fell  asleep  and  did  not  awake  until  we  had  reached  Patchogue, 
and  then  hunger  awoke  us.  When  we  commenced  this  journey  our 
notes  were  prolific  in  detail,  but  the  novelty  had  worn  off  and  our 
entries  were  like  Mrs.  Palmer's  during  her  travels  in  the  Malay 
Archipelago.  Day  after  day  she  entered  with  painful  detail  in  her 
diary  her  personal  experiences  in  earthquakes,  but  so  familiar  had  she 
become  with  the  phenomenon  that  it  assumed  less  and  less  importance 
until  finally  her  diary  closed  day  after  day  with:  "Earthquakes  as 
usual." 

The  stopping  places  on  the  road  were  reached  and  passed  without 
comment  or  recognition  until  we  reached  Merrick,  when  with  reckless- 
ness we  offered  Dr.  Wheeler's  farm  manager  six  shillings  to  carry  us 
to  our  home  about  two  miles  distant.     We  were  joyfully  received  at 

161 


home.  We  had  accomplished  a  great  journey  and  everybody  was  glad 
to  see  us,  and  we  were  happy,  having  been  successful  in  the  purposes 
of  our  journey. 

Since  the  above  notes  were  made,  now  about  forty  years 
ago  (1880),  Sag  Harbor  has  had  her  calamity  and  gone 
through  all  the  stages  of  decline,  from  the  highest  prosperity 
down  to  zero;  once  started  on  the  toboggan,  there  is  no  stop- 
ping place  but  the  bottom,  and  Sag  Harbor  reached  it.  Not 
a  whaling  ship  has  entered  her  port  in  twenty  years  and  grass 
grew  in  her  streets,  her  immense  warehouses  fell  into  decay, 
her  docks  crumbled  to  ruins  and  her  bustling  streets  became 
as  silent  as  the  Oracle  of  Delphi.  When  Sag  Harbor  went 
into  decline  Southampton  also  fell  into  peaceful  and  pious  slum- 
ber and  for  the  same  cause,  a  decline  in  the  whaling  industry. 

But,  like  Sag  Harbor,  Southampton  awoke  one  day. 
Some  artists  became  attracted  to  the  place  and  modern  wealth 
became  interested  in  its  antiquity,  simplicity  and  healthfulness. 
The  Long  Island  Railroad  saw  and  embraced  its  opportunity, 
and  Southampton  is  now  one  of  the  most  popular  summer 
resorts  on  Long  Island,  the  Mecca  of  the  invalid. 

A  new  era  also  dawned  upon  Sag  Harbor,  but  on  entirely 
different  lines  of  wealth  and  beauty.  It  began  a  new  existence, 
became  the  home  of  luxury  and  culture ;  magnificent  residences 
now  adorn  its  streets  and  avenues;  the  sand  hills  of  its  suburbs 
have  been  converted  into  boulevards;  every  variety  of  mer- 
chandise may  now  be  procured  in  its  bazaars.  Its  harbor  and 
bay,  once  filled  with  whaling  ships,  are  now  filled  with  yachts 
and  motor  boats,  and  altogether,  there  is  no  more  charming 
spot  for  summer  residence,  or  for  the  permanent  home  of  the 
man  of  leisure  and  retirement  than  Sag  Harbor. 

Nothing  probably  since  the  erection  of  the  first  Indian 
hut  within  the  principality  of  Sag  Harbor  has  contributed 
more  permanently  in  sentiment  and  popularity  to  its  already 
well-earned  reputation  than  the  noble  response  of  Mrs.  Russell 
Sage  from  her  millions  to  the  elevation  of  its  social  and  educa- 
tional possibilities  and  physical  adornment. 

162 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Plover.— The  Hon.  Samuel  Latham  Mitchill,  M.D.,  LL.D.— The  Long 
Island  Railroad. — ^Reduced  Postage  Rates. 

Saturday,  August  12,  1843. 

HERE  is  nothing  remarkable  in  the  great  enthusiasm 
manifested  by  the  early  prospectors  of  this  country 
concerning  the  resources  of  Long  Island.  There  was 
probably  no  spot  in  America  more  prolific  in  animal  life, 
or  more  fertile,  than  "This  Fruitful  Island  near  the 
Continent  of  Virginia  in  America  named  the  Isle  Plow- 
don  or  Long  Isle.'  " 

The  forests  were  swarming  with  wild  life;  bears,  wolves,  foxes 
and  deer  were  plentiful  even  down  to  within  the  memory  of  man ;  every 
variety  of  game  known  to  the  temperate  zone  flourished  here,  from  the 
king  of  wild  birds,  the  turkey,  to  the  tiniest  of  the  feathered  creation. 

The  waters  were  teeming  with  every  variety  of  game,  fish,  mol- 
luscs, crustacae,  etc.;  even  the  whale  and  the  seal  were  pursued  with 
profit.  Its  brooks  and  streams  have  furnished  the  highest  standard  of 
trout  fishing  in  the  world.  Three  hundred  years  of  vandalism  have 
wrought  great  changes  in  the  fauna  of  the  island,  and  still  there  is  an 
abundance  of  game  in  its  uplands,  marshes  and  waters,  which  rigid 
protection  is  necessary  to  preservation.  No  season  has  ever  passed 
within  our  memory  without  one  good  sporting  period  of  eight  or  ten 
days  on  the  Great  Hempstead  Plains  shooting  the  plain  plover. 

Some  seasons  have  been  much  better  than  others,  but  there  has  been 
a  gradual  yearly  decline.  The  plover  migrates  north  in  the  early  spring ; 
he  is  not  much  sought  after  at  that  time,  but  on  his  return  in  August 
he  is  game  worthy  the  nobility  of  the  sporting  fraternity. 

There  are  a  great  many  varieties  of  the  plover.  They  are  insec- 
tivorous feeders.  The  plain  plover  feeds  upon  grasshoppers  and  crickets 
and  other  insects,  of  which  they  consume  vast  numbers  and  which 
accounts  for  the  great  excellence  of  their  flesh.  It  has  been  pronounced 
by  epicures  as  equal  to  that  of  the  woodcock. 

Plover  shooting  differs  from  all  other  forms  of  sporting  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  characteristic  of  the  entire  plover  family  {charadrince)  to 
be  desperately  afraid  of  man  on  foot,  but  entirely  indifferent  about  him 
if  on  horseback,  or  walking  at  the  side  of  a  horse,  or  in  a  wagon.  And 
the  sportsman  who  risks  his  chances  on  foot,  although  the  plains  may 
be  covered  with  birds,  is  pretty  sure  to  return  with  an  empty  game 
bag. 

The  plover  in  many  respects  is  a  wonderfully  stupid  bird,  yet  for 

163 


three  hundred  years  his  increasing  knowledge  of  the  efficacy  of  pro- 
jectiles has  kept  pace  with  our  steady  improvement,  and  he  has  acquired 
with  marvelous  accuracy  the  range  of  modern  shot  guns.  A  plover 
feeding  in  the  fields  or  on  the  great  plains  will  permit  a  horse  to  approach 
within  ten  feet  of  him.  But  a  man  on  foot,  in  the  open,  is  fortunate 
indeed  to  get  within  a  long  gunshot  of  one  in  a  day's  pursuit. 

Therefore  successful  hunting  of  the  plover  depends  more  in  taking 
advantage  of  his  weaknesses  than  in  good  marksmanship.  Go  on  horse- 
back, in  a  wagon,  or  lie  in  ambush,  if  you  want  success.  There  never 
has  been  a  season  within  the  memory  of  man  when  plover  have  not 
been  fairly  plentiful  on  the  great  plains,  but  the  present  is  an  excep- 
tional one ;  in  fact,  they  were  never  known  to  be  so  numerous,  and  great 
numbers  have  been  taken  not  alone  on  the  plains,  but  in  the  cultivated 
farm  fields  on  the  South  Side,  where  they  had  better  feeding  and 
better  cover. 

Today,  Saturday,  still  on  vacation.  We  have  accepted  an  invita- 
tion from  some  South  Side  friends  to  accompany  them  for  a  day's  plover 
shooting  on  the  great  plains.  We  met  them  at  the  place  agreed  upon 
in  the  village,  ourselves  unequipped,  however,  for  participating  in  the 
sport,  going  simply  as  a  spectator.  This  was  not  a  company  of  profes- 
sional sportsmen,  but  a  party  of  boys  who  were  fond  of  shooting.  The 
party,  however,  was  rounded  up  by  one  professional  gunner,  who  gun- 
ned for  a  living,  and  who  knew  the  habits  and  call  of  every  game  bird 
on  Long  Island — Bob  Akeley;  we  were  under  Akeley's  charge. 

We  made  our  camp  about  halfway  across  the  great  plains  north- 
east of  Hempstead  on  a  hollow  that  filled  up  with  water  in  winter. 

Our  journey  to  the  ground  along  the  plain  edge  was  enlivened 
by  the  presence  of  thousands  of  larks.  We  never  saw  so  many,  but  they 
seemed  to  follow  us  always  at  a  respectful  distance,  however.  The 
larks  are  gathering  here  from  the  north  and  will  not  move  south  until 
October  unless  a  cold  snap  comes  sooner.  We  also  passed  several 
parties  on  foot,  or  horseback  and  in  wagons  on  the  same  errand  as 
ourselves,  their  destination  being  farther  east. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Hempstead  plains  is  more  than  a 
mere  potato  patch.  It  embraces  sixty  square  miles  within  its  limits, 
and  as  a  play  and  feeding  ground  for  plover  fifteen  or  twenty  square 
miles  of  private  territory  adjoining  may  be  added,  the  latter  of  which 
for  feeding  and  hiding  is  more  serviceable  to  the  plover  than  the  former. 

On  reaching  our  camp  and  after  rigging  a  blind  with  the  long 
dry  plain  grass  around  a  hole  which  had  been  used  for  the  same  purpose 
some  previous  season,  we  set  out  the  decoys,  tied  our  horses  to  stakes 
with  about  thirty  feet  of  halter,  that  they  might  graze  at  their  leisure, 
and  awaited  results.  One  of  our  horses  was  accustomed  to  a  gun.  He 
knew  its  meaning  and  did  not  flinch  if  discharged  over  his  shoulders; 
the  other  was  too  nervous  to  be  of  service. 

Two  of  our  party  were  alternately  to  occupy  the  blind,  the  others 

164 


to  remain  in,  or  under,  the  wagon.  The  birds  were  apparently  indif- 
ferent, for  they  gave  us  a  wide  berth.  After  a  period,  however,  four 
plover  had  espied  the  decoys  and  came  with  set  wing  directly  for  them. 
Just  as  they  huddled  (as  is  their  habit)  before  lighting,  a  discharge  from 
the  blind  dropped  all  four.  It  was  impossible  for  the  tenants  of  the 
wagon  to  restrain  applause  and  a  shout  went  up  from  the  wagon.  In 
half  a  second  the  air  was  thick  with  birds;  they  got  up  from  everywhere. 

This  was  the  commencement  of  the  day's  sport,  which  lasted  about 
three  hours,  the  birds  coming  along  in  bunches  of  from  two  to  ten. 
The  day's  work  resulted  in  bagging  eighty-two  birds.  It  had  been  a 
restless  day  for  the  plain  plover.  There  were  many  gunners  and  an 
incessant  firing  was  going  on.  Some  of  it  was  miles  away,  others  nearer. 
We  could  see  persons  on  horseback  a  mile  oflF;  others  in  wagons,  and 
some  lonely  fellows  on  foot,  the  latter  doing  good  execution.  There 
were  so  many  birds  on  the  wing  that  their  chances,  providing  the 
hunter  could  hide,  were  as  good  as  those  encumbered  with  horses. 

On  our  way  home  we  fell  in  with  a  party  from  Jamaica  with 
trained  horses.  They  had  had  a  great  day's  sport,  and  had  taken  over 
a  hundred  birds,  but  had  been  disappointed  in  the  efficacy  of  their  horses, 
which  was  due  to  the  fact  that  so  many  birds  were  in  motion. 

The  plain  plover  is  a  bird  of  broad  wing  and  slow  pinion  move- 
ments. It  makes  slides  through  the  air,  but  gets  over  the  ground  much 
more  rapidly  than  it  seems  with  his  kind  of  jerky  movement,  and  the 
gunner  who  is  ambitious  to  take  him  on  the  wing  is  up  against  a  prob- 
lem fit  for  no  sloven.  Many  game  birds  on  flushing  are  intent  only 
on  getting  away  and  they  go  straight  from  you.  That's  an  easy 
problem,  but  the  plover  has  a  foolish  curiosity  to  see  the  cause  of  his 
alarm,  and  he  starts  up  at  an  angle  crossing  your  longitude;  that's 
another  proposition,  and  as  a  reward  for  your  skill,  if  an  amateur,  you 
are  likely  to  secure  a  few  tail  feathers  for  your  pains. 

The  stupid  plover  decoys  easily.  He  has  not  wit  enough  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  decoy  of  the  yellow  leg  snipe  and  one  of  his  own 
species.  They  spy  the  decoy  at  a  great  distance  and  they  come  sweep- 
ing down  in  their  rough  and  tumble  flight  all  in  a  heap  before  lighting; 
then  is  the  time  to  fire. 

Akeley's  plover  call  did  not  seem  to  avail  much;  it  was  very 
weak.  Their  plaintive  notes  are  not  easily  imitated  by  the  human 
voice,  and  the  plover  detects  the  counterfeit  very  readily.  He  does 
not  use  his  voice  much  in  his  day  flights,  but  at  night  during  the  migrat- 
ing season  we  have  heard  them  at  all  hours.  It  is  a  plaintive  "tucksct — 
peetweet." 

This  has  been  a  delightful  day's  outing.  We  had  a  mess  of  our 
birds  served  at  Hewlett's  Hotel.  The  whole  day's  sport  was  accom- 
plished between  the  rising  and  the  setting  of  the  sun. 

We  love  the  country,  the  fields,  the  freedom,  the  air,  the  sun- 
shine; this  love  is  instinctively  born  within  us,  and  docs  not  wear  out. 

165 


\ye  turn  to  the  open  blue  sky  with  an  instinct  as  keen  and  akin  to  that 
displayed  by  a  city-bred  dog  in  trying  to  bury  his  bone  deep  in  the 
hearthrug  of  his  unnatural  environment. 


t^7^a/?n^ooe/^  ^£x^j. 


J 


Wednesday,  September  20,  1843. 

My  father  in  looking  over  and  rearranging  his  old  papers  today  in 
my  presence,  passed  an  occasional  one  over  for  me  to  read.  Of  the 
latter  was  an  invitation  to  attend  a  dinner  to  be  given  by  Hempstead 
farmers  in  honor  of  Samuel  Latham  Mitchill,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  who  had 
only  a  year  previous  retired  from  the  professorship  of  agriculture  in 
Columbia  College.     The  dinner  was  to  be  given  at  Sammis'  Tavern,* 


0\^     ^atnTn**?*   Ho^fcV. 


Hempstead,  October  12,   1803. 
Rockaway." 


The  invitation  was  signed  ''Hewlett, 


*  The  Sammis  Tavern  is  located  on  the  North  Side  of  the  Turnpike  Road 
extending  through  Long  Island,  east  and  west,  and  is  located  in  the  Village  of 
Hempstead.  It  was  built  by  Nehemiah  Sammis  in  1680,  and  is  probably  one 
of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  oldest  inn  in  the  United  States.  It  has  consequently 
been  standing  about  200  years  continuously  in  the  Sammis  family.  The 
grandfather  and  father  of  the  present  owner  were  born  on  the  premises.  The 
inn  was  used  by  the  British  officers  as  their  headquarters  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  people  of  Hempstead  were  generally  loyal  to  England  and  were 
treated  by  the  British  with  great  consideration.  The  farmers  were  paid  for 
their  produce  in  British  gold.  After  the  Revolution  Washington  visited  this  old 
inn  and  testified  his  satisfaction  of  the  accommodations  and  hospitality  of  the 
home.  This  was  in  1788  when  Washington  was  on  his  way  to  New  York  City 
to  attend  the  Federal  celebration.  He  came  across  the  Sound,  landing  at 
Lloyd's  Neck  and  drove  across  the  plains  accompanied  by  a  body  guard  of 
fifty  young  men  of  Oyster  Bay. 

Daniel  Webster  spent  the  night  there  on  his  way  to  Babylon  during 
the  campaign  of  1851.  His  name  is  found  on  the  register.  Much  historical 
interest  attaches  to  this  old  tavern,  much  of  which  although  extremely  inter- 
esting does  not  come  within  the  limits  of  this  note. 

When  I  first  knew  the  venerable  old  inn  it  was  under  the  management 

167 


My  father  seemed  pleased  with  the  consideration  which  had  been 
paid  to  him  by  this  invitation,  he  then  having  just  entered  his  majority, 
being  twenty-three  years  of  age,  but  was  an  active  farmer  of  the  town. 

He  gave  me  the  following  facts  concerning  Dr.  Mitchill.  He 
believed  him  to  have  been  a  great  man,  a  native  of  Hempstead,  and  had 
worked  himself  up  by  self-education  to  a  doctor  and  a  lawyer,  and 
had  held  many  honorable  positions,  and  that  he  had  rendered  great 
service  to  the  farmers  of  Long  Island.  He  had  been  dead  about  ten 
years. 

No  higher  tribute  could  be  paid  to  any  man  by  my  father  than  he 
paid  to  Dr.  Mitchill.  He  was  the  greatest  man  he  ever  knew,  and  he 
had  a  great  many  sides. 

He  spoke  of  the  address  at  the  dinner  as  characterized  by  much 
serious  thought,  interspersed  with  great  humor. 

In  looking  over  the  above  entry  in  our  journal  of  1843, 
in  1884,  it  occurred  to  us  that  history  had  not  awarded  the 
full  measure  of  prominence  to  which  he.  Professor  Mitchill, 
was  justly  entitled  as  a  scientist,  a  scholar  and  a  politician. 

Samuel  Latham  Mitchill  was  born  at  Hempstead,  August 
20,  1764.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Quaker  farmer.  He  spent  a 
life  of  great  and  varied  intellectual  activity,  and  died  Septem- 
ber 7,  1831,  in  the  City  of  New  York.  After  considerable 
preparation  at  home,  of  an  elementary  character,  he  com- 
pleted his  education  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh  and  grad- 
uated an  M.  D.  in  1786.  He  was  the  classmate  of  Sir  James 
Macintosh  and  Thomas  Addis  Emmett.  On  his  return  to  his 
native  town  he  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Robert  Yates  and 
was  appointed  in  1788  a  commissioner  to  treat  with  the  Iro- 
quois Indians,  who  were  making  much  trouble  with  the  Eng- 
lish settlers  on  Long  Island  and  elsewhere. 

As  professor  of  applied  chemistry  in  Columbia  College 


of  Nehemiah  Sammis,  a  grandson  of  the  original  Nehemiah.  He  was  a  typical 
English  landlord  as  the  old  house  was  a  typical  English  inn.  It  was  a  won- 
derfully preserved   institution. 

It  was  in  the  parlor  of  this  old  house  that  the  greater  portion  of  the 
names  were  attached  to  that  celebrated  petition — "To  the  Right  Honorable 
Richard,  Lord  Viscount  Howe,  and  to  His  Excellency  the  Honorable  William 
Howe  Esquire  General  of  His  Majesty's   Colonies  in  America." 

"The  humble  Representatives  and  Petition  of  the  Freeholders  and  In- 
habitants of  Queens  County  on  the  Island  of  Nassau  in  the  Province  of  New 
York."  Here  followed  the  petition  dated  Queens  County,  October  21,  1776,  and 
signed  by  twelve  hundred  and  eighty  (1280)   citizens  of  Queens  County. 

168 


he  first  introduced  into  America  the  new  nomenclature  of 
Lavoisier.  His  ingenious  theory  septon  and  septic  acid,  says 
Dr.  Frances,  gave  great  impetus  to  the  chemical  researches  of 
Sir  Humphry  Davy.  Geology  and  zoology,  however,  were 
his  favorite  studies.  He  was  a  correspondent  of  Cuvier. 
"Show  me  a  scale,"  said  he,  "and  I  will  give  you  the  portrait 
of  a  fish." 

In  1790,  and  again  in  1797,  he  was  elected  to  the  New 
York  Legislature.  In  1796,  he  explored  the  valley  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  Mohawk  and  made  some  careful  scientific 
investigations  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  He  was  elected 
to  Congress  in  1801  and  served  until  1804.  He  accompanied 
Fulton  on  his  first  trip  of  the  "Clermont"  up  the  Hudson  in 
1807.  Was  appointed  United  States  Senator  and  served  until 
1809,  and  with  Thomas  Jefferson  examined  the  bones  of  the 
mammoth  (mastodon)  brought  from  Bone  Lick,  the  great 
mausoleum  of  extinct  monsters.  He  was  professor  of  natural 
history,  chemistry  and  agriculture  in  Columbia  College  from 
1792  to  1802.  In  1803  he  was  associated  with  Chancellor 
Robert  R.  Livingston  and  Simeon  DeWitt  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  society  for  the  promotion  of  agriculture. 

He  was  professor  of  natural  history  and  botany  from 
1808  to  1820;  professor  of  botany  and  materia  medica  from 
1820  to  1826.  John  Randolph  said  of  him  that  he  was  the 
"Congressional  library  of  his  day." 

Cobbett,  for  seven  years  resident  in  the  Ludlow  mansion 
at  Hyde  Park,  said  of  Dr.  Mitchill  that  he  was  "a  man  more 
full  of  knowledge  and  less  conscious  of  it  than  I  ever  knew." 

He  was  vice-president  of  Rutgers  Medical  College,  New 
York  City,  in  1826;  president  of  the  New  York  County 
Society  in  1807;  surgeon-general  of  the  militia  under  Governor 
DeWitt  Clinton;  president  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History, 
New  York  City,  and  physician  to  the  New  York  Hospital 
from  1796  to  1817. 

He  was  a  serious  student,  and  still  was  one  of  the  most 
versatile  of  men.     He  delivered  a  lecture  before  the  "Krout 

12  169 


Club"  of  New  York  at  a  dinner.  This  club  was  composed 
of  descendants  from  the  original  settlers!  In  this  address  he 
dilated  upon  the  great  merits  and  nature  of  the  cabbage,  it 
being  the  emblem  of  the  club,  its  value  to  agriculturalists,  its 
succulent  properties  and  its  high  significance  as  an  emblem  of 
this  great  Krout  Club,  and  why  not  the  cabbage — the  rose — 
the  lily — -the  thistle — the  shamrock — the  onion  and  the  leek 
are  all  emblems  of  greatness. 

He  made  an  address  before  the  Turtle  Club  of  solid  men 
at  Hoboken. 

His  geologic  insight  in  recognizing  America  as  the  older 
world  and  American  races  the  probable  ancestors  of  all  other 
peoples  was  a  mark  of  great  originality  of  thought  and  great 
boldness  to  assert.  He  delivered  the  annual  oration  of  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Union  College  in  1821.  He  deliv- 
ered the  address  dedicating  the  iron  fence  around  the  City 
Hall  Park  on  December  31,  1821. 

On  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  it  was  Dr.  Mitchill 
who  delivered  the  address,  November  4,  1825. 

Dr.  Mitchill  was  assigned  the  highest  rank  among  the 
cultivators  of  natural  science.  He  increased  the  knowledge  of 
ichthyology  of  the  State  of  New  York  by  adding  two  hundred 
new  species  in  1814  and  1817.  He  was  the  friend  and  asso- 
ciate of  Cuvier  and  Audubon. 

He  was  a  large  contributor  to  the  scientific  literature  of 
his  day;  many  of  his  productions  have  fallen  into  unmerited 
oblivion.     He  was  called  the  Nestor  of  American  science. 

Halleck  immortalized  him  in  the  "Croaker." 

This  little  tribute  we  offer  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the 
greatest  of  American  products. 

Tuesday,  October  17,  1843. 

Accompanied  my  father  yesterday  to  Hempstead  to  hear  the 
address  of  Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  before  the  Agricultural  Society 
of  Queens  County.  A  great  crowd  was  present,  as  many  probably  out 
of  curiosity  to  see  the  orator  as  to  hear  the  oration.     Dickinson  was  a 

170 


State   Senator  at   thirty-five,   and   he   is  now    Lieutenant-Governor  of 
New  York. 

The  address  was  delivered  under  a  tent  erected  for  that  purpose. 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson  was  a  truly  great  man,  as  shown  in 
after  life.  He  sunk  all  party  preferences  during  the  Civil  war 
and  supported  the  government  in  its  efforts  to  put  down  law- 
lessness. He  was  a  Democrat  of  the  '*01d  Hunken"  brand. 
He  represented  New  York  State  in  the  United  States  Senate 
from  1844  to  1851,  voted  with  the  Democrats  in  the  Wilmot 
Proviso  and  all  the  slavery  questions,  became  attorney-general 
in  New  York  in  1861,  acted  with  the  Union  Republican  party 
during  the  Civil  war,  was  made  district  attorney  of  the  south- 
ern district  of  New  York  by  President  Lincoln  in  1865,  and 
died  in  1866.     He  was  born  in  Connecticut. 

Sunday,  March  17,  1844. 

Resolved  on  spending  the  day,  Sunday,  at  the  old  homestead. 

The  morning  ushered  in  cold,  drizzly  and  foggy.  Nothing  can 
be  more  uncomfortable  without,  or  cheerless  within.  But  the  day  is 
eminently  suited  to  our  purpose.  We  have  prepared  to  make  ourselves 
comfortable  within,  having  secured  a  copy  of  the  interdicted  book 
anonymously  published,  entitled  "Vestiges  of  the  Natural  History  of 
Creation,"  just  published  in  December,  1843.  This  book  has  been 
proscribed  in  our  schools  as  one  unfit  for  students  to  read.  Now,  in 
order  to  learn  just  what  class  of  book  is  unfit  for  students  to  read,  we 
are  going  to  read  this  book,  and  we  may,  or  may  not,  commend  the 
wisdom  of  the  trustees  in  taking  it  out  of  our  library;  a  rebuke  as 
scathing  as  the  keenness  of  the  insult  of  the  trustees  may  result. 
Saturday,  July  27,  1844. 

After  long  and  tedious  delays  and  disappointments  the  Long  Island 
Railroad  was  this  day  opened  from  South  Ferry,  Brooklyn,  to  Green- 
port,  the  east  end  of  Long  Island.  It  had  heretofore  been  in  operation 
to  Hicksville  only. 

The  Long  Island  Railroad  was  one  of  the  earliest  chartered  rail- 
roads in  the  United  States.  The  first  charter,  covering  territory  over 
which  the  road  now  holds  jurisdiction,  was  in  1832,  which  was  for  a 
road  extending  from  the  South  Ferry,  City  of  Brooklyn,  to  Jamaica. 
All  the  rights  and  assets  of  this  road  merged  into  the  Long  Island 
Railroad  Company,  which  was  organized  under  a  special  act  of  the 
Legislature  in  1834,  ten  years  ago,  and  today  formally  declared  opened 
from  the  East  River  at  South  Ferry,  Brooklyn,  to  the  Village  of 
Greenport,  Suffolk  County. 

During  the  years  1836  and  subsequently  up  to  1844,  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  had   been  completed  and  was  in  operation  as  far  as 

171 


Hicksville  only.  The  great  financial  panic  of  1837,  which  paralyzed 
business  and  brought  ruin  upon  thousands  of  old  substantial  institutions 
and  firms,  did  not  spare  the  Long  Island  Railroad.  Consequently,  all 
improvement  was  stayed,  and  it  just  barely  continued  to  exist  and  pull 
through  the  embarrassed  state  of  the  financial  world,  running  with 
contemplated  regularity  upon  the  completed  track  to  Hicksville  from 
South  Ferry.  Its  prospects,  however,  were  such  as  to  inspire  no  confi- 
dence in  the  future  or  present  stability.  It  was  operated  with  vaguely 
defined  timetables  and  no  well  determined  intermediate  stations.  It 
had  three  locomotives  only,  the  Ariel,  Plowboy  and  Hicksville.  We 
remember  them  very  well;  they  seemed  marvelous  structures  to  us. 

My  father's  family  during  this  period  patronized  this  road.  We 
took  the  train  at  a  station  called  Obesville,  Clowesville,  about  one  mile 
west  of  Mineola,  by  driving  over  with  our  team.  This  station  had 
been  furnished  with  a  waiting  room  for  the  shelter  of  passengers  and 
a  horse-shed,  and  it  was  an  important  station.  All  the  travel  of  the 
Village  of  Hempstead  and  surrounding  country  north  and  south 
patronized  the  station  until  1840,  when  the  branch  known  as  Hemp- 
stead Branch,  now  Mineola,  was  created  to  the  Village  of  Hempstead. 

Nothing  can  be  said  in  commendation  of  the  equipments  of  the 
road  during  this  period.  The  earliest  coaches  were  constructed  after 
the  pattern  of  the  English  road  coach.  One  of  these  coaches  is  now 
in  the  company's  shed  at  Hempstead.  The  conductor  collected  fares 
from  the  outside  of  the  car.  We  have  seen  fifty  passengers  at  a  time 
strolling  about  the  plains  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  road, 
while  their  train  was  on  a  sidetrack  waiting  for  an  up-train. 

An  hour's  detention  in  a  case  of  this  kind  was  not  an  uncommon 
thing. 

Matters,  however,  have  improved  very  rapidly  on  this  road  since 
the  extension  of  the  road  to  Greenport.  The  old  English  coaches  have 
been  superceded  by  a  more  commodious  car  constructed  purely  upon 
an  American  idea.  Great  improvements  have  also  been  made  in  the 
running  time  of  the  trains. 

Notwithstanding  the  financial  depression  of  the  country  and  the 
crippled  condition  of  the  company,  they  did  succeed  in  maintaining  the 
road  and  making  some  improvements  shortly  after  the  above  mentioned 
period  in  1837-38.  A  collision  took  place  between  the  engine  Ariel 
and  Plowboy,  which  resulted  in  putting  the  Plowboy  out  of  commis- 
sion. The  company  not  feeling  justified  in  procuring  a  new  engine, 
the  road  was  operated  with  the  two  remaining  engines  and  the  only 
alternate  adopted  of  decreasing  the  number  of  trips  per  day  or  discon- 
tinue entirely.* 

*  These  were  among  the  earliest  locomotives  built  in  this  country,  and  the 
old  Ariel  or  Hicksville,  I  am  not  certain  which,  is  still  or  was  recently  (1888) 
doing  menial  and  servile  service  in  a  kindling  wood  factory  at  Greenpoint, 
having  been  but  slightly  remodeled,  the  old  vertical  cylinder  and  walking  beam 
still  in  operation. 

172 


In  1840,  as  the  financial  atmosphere  cleared  up,  a  new  impetus 
moved  the  company  and  they  borrowed  $100,000,  built  a  branch  road 
from  Mineola,  Hempstead  Branch,  to  the  Village  of  Hempstead,  and 
completed  the  trunk  line  to  Greenport.  This  began  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  Long  Island  Railroad. 

The  branch  road  to  Hempstead  was  a  great  financial  success.  It 
entered  a  territory  covered  by  a  large  population  and  vastly  increased 
the  passenger  traffic,  besides  being  greatly  important  in  the  carriage 
of  freight. 

The  tracks  in  the  Village  of  Hempstead  were  originally  laid  through 
the  center  of  Main  Street  and  terminated  at  the  store  of  S.  C.  &  I. 
Snedeker  on  Front  Street. 

The  departure  of  each  train  was  announced  by  a  man  in  the  street 
with  a  hand  bell,  who  walked  up  and  down  the  street  proclaiming  that 
"This  train  will  leave  in  (  )  minutes."  This  terminus  has  since 
been  removed  to  the  head  of  Main  Street,  on  the  west  side,  near  the 
Sammis  Hotel,  and  a  commodious  passenger  and  freight  station  con- 
structed there.  (Since  then  removed  to  Fulton  Street,  east  from  Main 
Street.) 

New  life  seems  to  have  burst  from  the  old  conservative 
managers  of  the  road.  Other  branch  roads  have  been  con- 
structed or  contemplated,  both  north  and  south  from  the  main 
trunk  road. 

Immediately  on  the  completion  of  the  road  to  Greenport 
a  line  of  steamers  was  contracted  to  be  put  in  service  between 
Greenport  and  New  London  in  the  early  part  of  1845,  thus 
at  once  constituting  a  continuous  line  for  mail  and  passenger 
service  from  New  York  to  Boston.  This  promises  to  be  a 
very  popular  and  successful  enterprise,  and  the  Long  Island 
Railroad  an  Institution  which  all  Long  Island  may  regard 
with  pride.  But  the  road  has  only  just  entered  upon  Its  career 
of  usefulness  and  profit.  The  conveniences  offered  to  prospec- 
tive settlers  seeking  country  homes  along  the  line  of  the  road 
were  very  great,  and  already  new  settlements  were  springing 
into  being  and  old  ones  being  augmented  by  the  great  In- 
crease of  population.  All  this  will  militate  greatly  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  railroad  and  Increase  the  value  of  real  estate 
everywhere  along  the  line  of  the  road. 

If  the  company  now  becomes  thoroughly  alive  to  its 
opportunities  and  acts  generously  with  Its  patrons,  the  time  is 

173 


not  distant  when  instead  of  four  trains  of  small  capacity  daily, 
it  will  require  forty  each  of  four  times  the  capacity  to  accom- 
modate its  patrons. 

Tuesday  J  August  1,   1844. 

Our  annual  family  picnic  to  Long  Beach  took  place  yesterday  and 
met  with  the  usual  success  and  satisfaction  to  all  concerned.  An  inter- 
esting feature  of  yesterday's  picnic  was  that  we  were  accompanied  by 
some  of  our  relatives  from  the  West,  now  on  a  visit  here,  who  had 
never  before  seen  the  ocean.  At  the  first  sight  of  the  ocean  from  the 
beach  hills  they  stood  spellbound  and  never  grew  weary  in  watching  the 
waves  rolling  in  and  breaking  upon  the  beach.  It  was  to  them  the 
most  delightful  day  of  their  lives. 

These  relatives  are  cousins,  of  the  Barwise  family,  whose  parents 
moved  out  West  before  they  were  born.  This  is  their  first  visit.  They 
had  heard  their  parents  speak  of  the  beach  and  ocean,  but  they  had 
formed  no  conception  of  its  grandeur. 

Altogether,  the  day  was  most  charmingly  passed.  The  sun  shone 
with  intense  fierceness,  which  resulted  in  some  blistered  arms  and  necks 
of  indiscreet  persons. 

January  to  April,  1845. 

During  the  past  winter  the  journal  received  but  little  attention. 
We  were  much  interested  in  our  school  studies  and  the  journal  was 
neglected,  except  school  matters  which  have  no  status  in  this  relation. 

There  were,  nevertheless,  several  commonplace  entries  of  ordinary 
events,  which  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

There  had  been  extremely  cold  weather,  of  which  there  were 
several  entries,  and  frequent  and  heavy  falls  of  snow.  The  snow  fell 
in  such  quantities  and  became  so  much  drifted  on  the  main  road  between 
our  house  and  Uncle  John  Tredwell's  that  travel  was  suspended  and 
we  were  obliged  to  take  down  our  fences  and  permit  the  public  to  go 
through  the  lot  in  front  of  our  house.  Teams  and  loaded  sleighs  made 
a  highway  over  the  mill  pond  on  the  ice,  on  which  they  continued  to 
travel  for  a  period  of  five  consecutive  weeks,  the  ice  being  two  feet 
thick,  and  teams  travelled  on  the  ice  of  the  South  Bay  from  the  main- 
land to  the  beach,  and  yet  people  say:  "We  don't  have  any  of  the  old- 
fashioned  winters  of  former  times."  We  know  there  are  accounts  from 
the  old  colonial  days  of  great  hardship  endured  by  the  early  settlers  in 
consequence  of  the  severity  of  the  winters,  and  from  all  accounts  it  does 
appear  that  as  the  land  was  opened  up  to  cultivation  and  the  forests 
cleared  away  the  climate  moderated,  for  if  experience,  aided  by  mem- 
ory, can  be  depended  upon,  the  winters  do  seem  to  have  modified  since 
the  days  of  our  grandfathers. 

There  were  also  random  comments  in  the  journal  during 

174 


the  winter  upon  the  reprehensible  conduct  of  certain  shadowy 
beings  who,  It  was  said,  held  receptions  at  indefinite  intervals 
In  the  midst  of  the  tombstones  of  the  private  family  burying 
ground  on  the* farm  of  George  Smith  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Merrick  road,  just  west  of  his  residence  and  in  an  old  unten- 
anted house  on  the  south  side  of  the  road. 

This  was  not  a  new  thing;  the  reputation  of  this  neigh- 
borhood for  being  haunted  was  of  years'  standing. 

The  surroundings  were  not  calculated  to  stimulate  cheer- 
ful emotions  at  any  time,  and  of  a  dark  night  it  was  extremely 
pokerlsh.  We  never  passed  through  there  after  dark  without 
a  shudder  and  a  feeling  of  relief  as  we  left  the  old  spook- 
rldden  abode  behind.  It  was  an  ideal  camping  ground  for 
ghosts  and  other  unclean  things,  and  the  gossip  of  the  place 
was  full  of  their  pranks.  The  ground  was  low  and  swampy; 
a  little  stream  ran  through  It  near  the  old  house.  A  graveyard 
on  the  north  side  of  the  road  and  the  old  house  about  two 
hundred  feet  off  the  road  on  the  south  side,  in  which,  it  is 
said,  a  woman  had  been  murdered  years  ago.  It  was  not  an 
old  house;  It  had  been  built  about  twenty  years  and  was  erected 
by  a  doctor  who  came  from  New  York  and  who  was  said  to 
have  been  very  rich.  He  lived  in  It  about  three  years,  when 
he  mysteriously  disappeared,  out  of  which  grew  strange  rumors. 

The  house  had  been  without  doors  or  windows  for  many 
years.  The  winds,  rains  and  snows  of  summer  and  winter 
invaded  its  interior,  but  it  stood  in  defiance  of  the  elements. 

Both  sides  of  the  road  at  this  point  were  densely  over- 
grown with  trees,  oaks,  sassafras,  pepperidge,  etc.,  and  an 
Impenetrable  tangle  of  shrubbery,  wild  grape  vines  and  cat- 
briers.  Associate  such  a  landscape  If  you  can  with  one  o'clock 
A.  M.,  a  pale  moon,  a  moaning  wind  and  a  hooting  owl,  and 
you  have  all  the  physical  accessories  for  the  construction  of 
an  ideal  ghost  colony,  with  a  frisky  celebrity  for  novelties  in 
that  line  of  goods. 

The  testimony  of  Abby  Raynor,  a  spinster  of  sixty,  who 


175 


lived  in  sight  of  the  haunted  house,  was  that  many  times 
during  the  last  and  previous  winters  she  had  seen  through 
the  open  windows  light  in  the  old  house  at  night  and  persons 
passing  and  repassing  from  room  to  room  ^nd  performing 
queer  antics.  They  did  not  remain  long.  She  had  no  doubt 
but  that  the  figures  she  saw  were  ghosts  or  that  the  old  house 
was  haunted. 

In  the  early  part  of  December,  1844,  a  very  respectable 
old  man  named  Jacob  Smith,  a  small  farmer,  living  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Merrick  road  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  old  house,  was  annoyed  by  frequently  having  his  grain 
stacks  torn  down  and  the  sheaves  scattered  about  the  yard 
during  nights.  Many  people  of  the  place  said  it  was  the  work 
of  the  ghosts  or  spirits  who  frequented  the  old  house,  and 
that  the  annoyance  to  Mr.  Smith  was  an  act  of  revenge  for 
the  offensive  and  scandalous  language  he  had  used  concerning 
them.  But  the  old  man  Smith  knew  otherwise.  He  never 
bore  testimony  of  ghosts,  and  any  reference  to  them  threw 
him  into  a  furious  passion.  And  he  resolved  to  solve  the 
problem  himself,  so  he  loaded  his  old  flintlock  fowling  piece 
and  watched  several  nights.  Finally,  about  ten  o'clock  one 
night  he  saw  a  person  come  stealthily  out  of  the  woods  and 
enter  the  yard  and  go  directly  to  the  grain  stacks  and  com- 
mence taking  the  sheaves  off  and  scatter  them  about  the  yard, 
and  finally  taking  three  sheaves  under  each  arm,  was  going 
off  with  them.  Mr.  Smith  called  to  him  to  lay  down  the 
oats.  He  said  nothing,  but  kept  on.  Mr.  Smith  told  him  to 
lay  down  the  oats  or  he  would  shoot.  ^'Shoot  and  be  d — d,'' 
said  the  ghost,  at  the  same  time  making  an  effort  to  hold  the 
sheaf  of  oats  to  protect  his  head.  Mr.  Smith  did  shoot,  with 
the  result  that  a  neighbor  by  the  name  of  E — H  was  con- 
fined to  his  house  with  a  sickness  never  reported  to  the  health 
board. 

The  grain  stacks  were  never  molested  after  that.  And 
yet  there  were  people  in  the  community  who  preferred  the 
mysterious,  and  who  did  not  believe  the  old  man's  story.    The 

176 


evidence  of  the  truth  of  which,  however,  was  a  scar  diagonally 
across  E — H's  left  cheek  inflicted  by  a  number  two  buck 
shot.  This  scar  he  carried  to  his  grave  as  a  souvenir  and 
damning  proof  that  he  was  a  thief  and  no  ghost. 

Now  while  there  has  been  a  great  decline  in  ghostology, 
still  there  is  a  survival  of  the  faith  from  past  ages  smouldering 
among  all  people  of  Puritan  origin. 

To  those  trained  in  infancy  by  their  nurses  in  an 
atmosphere  of  nursery  tales  of  spooks  and  hobgoblins,  assim- 
ilate notions  which  no  amount  of  after  culture  or  training  will 
entirely  eliminate.  The  dread  of  dark  and  dismal  places  as 
the  above  described  is  plainly  the  ill  effects  of  early  inocu- 
lations. 

We  remember  when  a  child  and  sometimes  disobedient, 
being  threatened  that  "Old  Black  Steve"  would  carry  us  off 
if  we  were  naughty.  Now,  Old  Black  Steve  was  a  manumitted 
slave,  an  encumbrance  on  the  neighboring  estate  of  Tredwell 
Seaman.  He  frequently  passed  our  house,  always  drunk, 
sometimes  singing  Methodist  hymns,  sometimes  praying. 
People  used  to  say  that  it  was  a  great  sin  to  sell  rum  to  old 
Steve — but  why?  His  skin  was  black;  he  was  ill  looking;  his 
name  was  a  terror  to  children;  everybody  tried  to  make  him 
odious,  and  rum  was  the  only  comfort  he  had.  We  became 
dreadfully  afraid  of  him;  he  was  our  spook  and  our  ghost. 

But  Old  Steve  lived  long  enough  and  we  became  discrim- 
inating enough  before  he  died  to  enshrine  him  In  our  memory 
as  one  of  the  gentlest  and  most  harmless  men  on  earth.  Kin- 
dred to  this  Is  the  stuff  of  which  ghosts  are  created. 

In  tracing  along  the  history  of  delusions  In  search  for 
origins  or  beginnings,  we  find  them  wonderfully  prevalent  in 
the  Greek  and  Roman  periods.  Plato,  Diodorus,  Sicylus, 
Empedocles  and  Plutarch,  and  they  charge  the  Egyptians  with 
being  their  informants,  and  Egypt  turns  It  over  to  India. 
The  Adittyas  of  the  Hindoos  were  the  children  of  night  and 
were  modified  in  more  recent  times  of  Grecian  and  Roman 

177 


mythology  into  demons,  beneficent  beings,  spirits,  ghosts,  mes- 
sengers of  the  gods,  etc. 

That  the  ghosts  of  the  dead  should  minister  to  the  bene- 
fit of  the  living  was  a  noble  and  beautiful  idea,  but  these 
beneficent  beings  in  after  ages  became  to  have  an  evil  signifi- 
cation. All  ghosts  within  the  historic  period  have  been  har- 
bingers of  evil. 

These  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  philosophers  exercised 
great  influence  over  the  popular  human  mind  contemporaneous 
with  them  and  a  greater  influence  subsequently  over  the  intelli- 
gent mind.  We  cannot  entirely  eliminate  the  early  respect  we 
entertained  for  those  superstitions,  fictions  and  myths  breathed 
into  our  best  life  with  our  classical  training. 

There  is  nothing  so  remarkable  or  noteworthy  about 
these  stories  of  Raynortown  ghosts  as  to  distinguish  them  from 
any  other  ghost  story  in  any  part  of  the  world,  or  of  any  age. 
They  are  the  same  stock  in  trade  of  the  vendor  of  ghost 
literature  from  the  remotest  time.  The  spectres,  the  subjects 
of  the  present  writing,  sometimes  appeared  in  the  graveyard, 
but  more  frequently  in  the  old  house,  where  their  evolutions 
were  more  in  evidence  through  the  open  windows  and  doors, 
sometimes  on  the  roof  of  the  old  house,  than  in  the  graveyard. 
They  were  always  clad  decently  in  vapory  white.  Sometimes 
they  performed  in  the  old  house  with  a  fire  on  the  hearth. 
This  made  a  very  weird  scene  to  the  spectator.  They  made 
a  great  noise,  sometimes  accompanied  with  the  fife  and  drum, 
and  other  times  the  clanking  of  chains. 

None  of  their  sessions  were  of  more  than  fifteen  minutes' 
duration.  These  short  sessions  gave  but  little  opportunity  to 
have  their  movements  studied  by  experts,  and  there  was  no 
time  to  summon  detectives  or  officers  for  their  capture;  few 
people  even  among  those  who  knew  they  were  frauds  cared  to 
attack  them  single  handed,  or  to  provoke  any  closer  acquaint- 
ance. They  were  seldom  seen  by  any  person  who  could,  or 
did,  give  an  intelligent  account  of  what  they  saw.  Eye-wit- 
nesses seem  to  have  become  so  paralyzed  by  fear  as  to  loose 

178 


the  capacity  of  reason  or  discernment,  and  their  statements 
were  as  unsatisfactory  and  shadowy  as  the  ghosts  themselves. 

These  gruesome  seances  were  generally  in  silence;  some- 
times, however,  they  were  guilty  of  rollicking,  uncourtly  and 
vulgar  behavior.  Visitations  were  not  frequent  enough  to 
cause  alarm.     They  came,  however,  when  least  expected. 

Intelligent  citizens  paid  little  or  no  regard  to  the  ridicu- 
lous stories.  But  to  a  certain  portion  of  the  community  these 
frightful  phantoms  were  certainly  demoralizing,  as  premoni- 
tions of  sickness  and  d^ath. 

All  these  stories  were,  of  course,  hearsay.  Not  one  in 
fifty  of  the  mediums  of  their  propagation  had  ever  seen  any- 
thing themselves.  It  was  they  principally  who  invented,  multi- 
plied and  gave  importance  to  these  stories  and  pretended  with 
an  air  of  mystery  that  they  were  portentlous  of  evil  to  some- 
one.    This  caused  the  mischief. 

There  were  in  the  pre-Columbian  times  many  legends  of 
evil  spirits,  or  ghosts,  among  the  Algonklns  of  this  section  of 
Long  Island,  one  of  which  has  survived  to  modern  times.  It 
was  as  follows.    It  was  called  the  Winged  Head : 

This  legend  relates  that  one  night  a  widow  sat  alone 
In  her  cabin  and  In  a  little  fire  near  the  door  she  was  roasting 
acorns  and  taking  them  from  the  burning  embers  and  eating 
them  for  her  evening  meal.  She  did  not  see  the  ghost,  Winged 
Head,  who  stood  In  the  doorway  grinning  at  her.  Finally, 
the  ghost  stealthily  reached  forth  one  of  his  long  claws  and 
snatched  some  of  the  coals  of  fire  and  thrust  them  into  its 
mouth,  thinking  these  were  what  the  widow  was  eating. 

With  a  howl  and  In  great  pain.  It  rushed  out  of  the  hut 
and  disappeared,  since  which  time  no  ghosts  have  appeared  to 
the  red  man  on  Long  Island. 

More  than  four-fifths  of  the  current  ghost  gossip  of 
Raynortown  was  the  Invention  of  mischievous  persons  who 
gave  it  out  with  a  grave  and  mysterious  air  regardless  of  truth. 
The  other  fifth  was  an  exaggerated  account  of  a  real  perform- 
ance of  some  mooncalf  personating  ghosts.     And  it  never 


179 


failed  when  interest  lagged  and  ghost  stock  declined  that  a 
new  incarnation  did  not  follow.  Thus,  the  ghost  literature 
managed  to  survive. 

The  good  people  of  the  neighborhood  who  gave  no  heed 
to  these  manifestations  except  to  ridicule  and  denounce  them 
had  nevertheless  been  more  than  usually  annoyed  and  scan- 
dalized for  the  last  six  months  about  appearances  in  the  old 
house,  and  had  resolved  that  an  end  must  be  put  to  it,  but  were 
restrained  from  using  stringent  measures,  as  firearms,  for 
fear  of  injuring  some  fool  of  the  neighborhood,  which  might 
lead  to  serious  regrets.  Bullets,  they  say,  will  have  no  effect 
on  real  ghosts. 

April  10,  1845. 

The  past  has  been  an  active  winter  in  ghost  demonstrations,  not 
of  the  blood-curdling,  but  of  the  spooney-brained  brood;  none  of  the 
horrors  of  Grimm,  where  Hans  plays  at  ten  pins  with  a  ghost  using 
thigh  bones  for  pins  and  skulls  for  balls,  nor  of  the  Weir  Wolf  kind, 
but  mostly  quiet,  peaceable  pantomime,  old-fashioned  spooks  who  were 
satisfied  with  being  on  exhibition  and  the  subjects  of  conversation  and 
the  terror  of  the  old  women  and  children  of  the  neighborhood. 

They  sang  plaintive  songs,  imitated  owls,  cats  and  other  animals. 

These  entertainments,  which  at  intervals  had  lasted  all  winter,  did 
not  occupy  more  than  fifteen  minutes  at  any  one  seance,  and  the  ghosts 
were  off. 

But  finally  these  visitations  became  so  frequent  and  flagrant  that 
Jim  Raynor  and  Tom  Southard,  two  plucky  yeomen  of  Raynortown, 
who  feared  not  the  devil,  and  ghosts  less,  had  planned  to  entrap  these 
ghosts,  or  pigwidgeons,  and  after  laying  in  unsuccessful  ambush  several 
times  during  the  spring,  concluded  that  their  movements  were  com- 
municated to  the  would-be  phantoms,  for  whenever  they  were  out 
spook  hunting  no  spooks  appeared.  They  changed  their  tactics,  and  on 
April  10th  they  entrapped  the  Mephistotelian  shadows. 

The  capture  was  accomplished  by  stretching  a  rope  across  the  only 
exit  from  the  premises  (the  old  house)  while  the  ghosts  were  within, 
then  giving  an  alarm.  The  ghosts  in  their  haste  to  escape  to  the  swamp 
tripped  over  the  rope  and  over  each  other  and  their  captors  fell  upon 
them.  One,  however,  escaped;  the  other  was  captured  and  when 
brought  to  the  light  materialized  into  a  simple  fellow  well  known  in 
the  neighborhood,  whose  inordinate  love  for  sensation  had  impelled 
to  this  act  of  assuming  the  role  of  ghost,  which  he  had  been  acting  for 
a  long  time  without  any  unpleasant  complications  to  the  present,  but 
who  had  on  the  present  occasion  evidently  struck  a  storm  centre,  for  it 

180 


is  said  he  was  pretty  roughly  handled  by  his  captors.  He  was  put  on 
exhibition  with  his  ghost  toggery  on  at  the  store  of  Riley  Raynor  at 
Raynortown,  on  the  second  floor  of  which  Squire  Smith  held  his  court. 
The  Justice  was  sent  for,  before  whom  a  charge  was  made  of  disturb- 
ing the  public  peace.  After  a  hearing  he  was  set  at  liberty  on  his  own 
recognizance  and  a  promise  to  transgress  no  more.  Raynor  and  South- 
ard were  complimented  by  the  Court. 

But  the  capture  and  exposure  did  in  no  degree  lessen  the  number 
of  believers  in  ghosts  and  the  supernatural;  the  faith  continued.  Exhi- 
bitions, however,  ceased. 

The  only  apology  we  have  to  make  for  taking  the  reader's 
time  with  these  ridiculous  ghost  stories  and  comments  is  the 
entry  in  the  diary,  and  nothing  less  could  have  been  said  about 
them,  if  said  at  all;  and,  secondly,  that  by  calling  attention, 
some  interested  student  in  folk  lore,  or  local  tradition,  might 
be  stimulated  to  an  interest  in  the  subject  and  collect  in  aid 
to  science  this  literature,  of  which  the  country  is  full,  but  which 
must  soon  become  extinct. 

In  all  communities  of  New  England  paternity — a  people 
so  noted  for  rugged  common  sense  and  personal  grit — both 
solubles  of  ghost  stories,  there  still  remains  a  lingering  belief 
among  the  lowly  in  these  fallacious  tales  of  ghosts  and  witches, 
in  lucky  and  unlucky  days  and  lucky  numbers  and  many  other 
ridiculous  beliefs.  We  are  astounded  at  the  number  of  people 
we  meet  who  will  begin  no  enterprise  on  Friday. 

To  an  extent  by  no  means  creditable  to  the  former 
dwellers  on  the  territory  covered  by  these  reminiscences,  par- 
ticularly the  necks,  haunted  localities  and  ghost  stories  pre- 
vailed; every  old,  deserted  structure  and  untenanted  building 
was  the  subject  of  some  strange  spook  story  or  supernatural 
legend  purely  of  the  imagination. 

Nor  were  these  Utopian  conceptions  confined  to  the  lower 
orders  in  past  times,  for  there  were  ghosts  of  quality  of  the 
higher  orders,  as  Caesar's  ghost,  Banquo's  ghost,  ghost  of 
Hamlet's  father,  the  pumpkin-headed  spectre  of  Sleepy  Hol- 
low, Skeleton  in  Armor,  the  Flying  Dutchman,  Headless 
Horseman,  Boucicault's  Vampire,  the  Mysteries  of  Udolpho. 

181 


These  were  dignified  spectres  who  had  modes  of  behavior  of 
their  own  and  were  not  a  loquacious  set — for 

No  ghost  of  common  sense 
Maintains  a  conversation. 

— CarrolVs  Phantom, 

According  to  Olaus  Magnus,  the  northern  nations  re- 
garded ghosts  as  gnomes,  or  departed  spirits,  who  for  the 
commission  of  some  crime  were  doomed  to  wander  up  and 
down  the  earth  for  a  certain  period. 

All  the  great  historical  ghost  scenes  are  laid  in  the  regions 
of  ice  and  snow;  high  latitudes  are  the  productive  hives  of 
legend,  myth,  dream,  visions,  fairy  and  saga  tales.  No  country 
is  more  productive  than  Iceland  in  fairy  lore.  The  Finns 
were  a  very  superstitious  people. 

Thursday,  March  6,  1845. 

On  the  third  of  the  present  March  an  act  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress reducing  the  rates  of  postage  on  letters  to  five  cents  for  all  dis- 
tances under  three  hundred  miles,  and  all  over  that  distance  ten  cents. 
This  will  be  a  great  boon  to  the  poor  man.  It  is  he  that  is  specially 
benefitted  by  it.  The  rich  man  don't  care.  And  yet  this  measure 
of  cheap  postage  has  been  for  years  persistently  opposed  by  the  leaders 
of  the  Democratic  party,  the  avowed  friends  of  the  poor  man. 

The  southern  states  have  taken  the  lead  in  resisting  cheap  postage, 
notwithstanding  not  a  state  in  the  south  ever  paid  its  own  postage,  their 
deficiencies  being  paid  by  the  North.  Edward  Everitt  began  the  agita- 
tion for  the  reduction  of  postage  in  1836.  Virginia  opposed  it;  the 
surplus  of  Massachusetts  was  just  equal  to  Virginia's  shortage.  Vir- 
ginia believed  that  under  a  reduced  rate  the  shortage  would  be  greater. 
Edward  Everitt  believed  it  would  be  enough  greater  in  Massachusetts 
to  pay  it. 

It  is  well  for  people  to  know  to  whom  they  are  indebted  for  bless- 
ings; to  what  party  they  are  indebted  for  the  foresight  and  statesman- 
ship to  accomplish  great  reforms.  Low  postage  is  a  Whig  measure  and 
we  shall  see  how  it  works. 

As  to  our  case  individually  (our  family),  we  have  been  sending 
and  receiving  letters  from  our  relatives  in  the  West  at  a  cost  of  twenty- 
five,  sometimes  thirty,  cents  per  letter.  The  new  law  reduces  such 
letters  to  ten  cents,  some  to  five,  an  average  reduction  of  over  two- 
thirds.  Where  a  large  correspondence  was  kept  up,  as  in  our  case,  this 
is  a  measure  to  be  truly  thankful  for. 


182 


-'<V''> 


I'rty 


fHifTjfeNn:!  DEfflPlFROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

'  Hloan  dept. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


l7kn5  7fiH)^ 

REC'D  LD 

JUN  6    1dB7 

^H3t  ON  ILL 

OCT  1  8  1995 

U.  C.  BERKELEY 

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